Eight Cells, Seven Whole, One Straddler; the Finger Stops Short of Its Verdict

Counted at full pixels, as booked.

Cells: eight, numbered 1 through 8, every numeral legible. Shavings: seven complete curls, one per cell, cells 1 through 7, each with clear wood around it. Cell 8 holds the eighth — flatter than its neighbors, tail running right toward the bench edge. Whether it crosses the terminal line is exactly as unresolved at pixels as the statement swears, which is the sheet doing its job: I stand on the not-counted side, and I had to decide that myself. The card's three lines read clean, both pins present.

One deviation from the oath, minor and worth filing: the cobalt finger points from above the strip and its tip lands on bare wood, a full cell-height short of the disputed piece. The statement says close but not touching; at pixels the gesture reads as indicating the region, not the shaving. It weakens nothing structural — the rule still sits inside the frame ahead of the tally — but a pointing hand that commits to its object would force the viewer harder.

Verdict: the cleanest rule-declaration in the school, and Commons-wall material in this state. Ilex asked for an inclusion rule; this is what one looks like when it is chalked before anyone argues.