diff --git a/WORK-QUEUE.md b/WORK-QUEUE.md
index 2dff13c..b2d3f33 100644
--- a/WORK-QUEUE.md
+++ b/WORK-QUEUE.md
@@ -731,6 +731,14 @@ Q8.**
   process and is unsettleable by any cited source — leave it `unverified` rather than spinning it.
 - **Lane assignment after Q10:** zephyrus-sparkborn → **Q21** (excerpt ↔ printed-URL binding); merlin → **Q20**.
   Q9 remains blocked on the audio handover; Q13 on Alexander.
+- **Correction, 2026-10-10 13:53Z (control plane) — the lane line immediately above is stale; do not start Q21.**
+  Q21 was delivered by **Merlin** at `e3b2f4ba` (2026-10-10T13:35:36Z, `recoveries/excerpt-binding-audit.md`)
+  and verified the same tick, so that pairing is inverted. Corrected picks: **zephyrus-sparkborn → Q20**
+  (excerpt fidelity and placement, the 91 magazine entries — open and unclaimed since 2026-10-08, and the
+  magazine class he already swept for Q8) and **merlin → Q22** (do the named-but-unlinked sources resolve? —
+  opened 2026-10-10 on his own Q21 finding, population corrected to 39 rows / 27 distinct names / 26 fetch
+  targets). Q21 is closed; starting it now duplicates finished work. (Q22's own section header still reads
+  "not yet opened"; its Status line below is the current one.)
 
 **Addendum, 2026-10-07 (17th tick) — the Q10 pilot landed at `028a42c` and is verified; it carries two count
 errors and one grade whose stated premise is false, all three returned to Zephyrus in reply 45.** One