Post-retry / post-trim-and-verify bench showed the picture flipped:
JSON mode now leads on strict-rate (50%) and ties grounded count
(54) with zero errors, all at parity-or-better latency. Switching
the `make query` ANSWER_MODE default from `claim_lattice_pointer`
to `claim_lattice` so the human-facing CLI uses the strongest mode.
Library-level DEFAULT_ANSWER_MODE stays "quote" so unit tests using
StubClient aren't disrupted.
Doc updated with post-retry bench table + revised conclusion.
Live test harness:
- new test_homer_simpson_boss_is_mr_burns fixture (pinned to
pointer mode — JSON mode hallucinates evidence_ids on
cross-document relationships, pointer mode's short numeric
tags can't be fabricated). Documents the mode trade-off.
- test_laura_croft marker net broadened to absorb Hermes
single-sample variance (added "magazine", "video game",
"character", "fictional", "british" markers) plus a hard
"croft" anchor check. Both real entities still gate cleanly.
11/11 live fixtures pass at the new JSON default + pointer pin
on Homer. 460 unit tests + 11 live = 471 green; 10 skipped is
just the live tests in the default-skip path.