diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
index fe5a438..d11622f 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ on:
 # unit/integration jobs inherit it. The deploy job overrides it per contour with
 # vars.TEST_DICT_VERSION (the seed for a fresh volume), see deploy/README.md.
 env:
-  DICT_VERSION: v1.2.1
+  DICT_VERSION: v1.3.0
 
 jobs:
   # changes detects which areas a PR/push touched, so the test jobs can skip when
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index a95c7e8..bc7bb97 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 # --- dictionary artifact -----------------------------------------------------
 FROM alpine:3.20 AS dawg
-ARG DICT_VERSION=v1.2.1
+ARG DICT_VERSION=v1.3.0
 RUN apk add --no-cache curl tar
 RUN mkdir -p /dawg \
  && curl -fsSL -o /tmp/dawg.tar.gz \
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ FROM gcr.io/distroless/static-debian12:nonroot
 # Re-declare the build arg in this stage so it labels the seed dictionary. One
 # DICT_VERSION drives both the artifact the dawg stage downloads and the version
 # label the binary pins, so the resident version equals the release tag.
-ARG DICT_VERSION=v1.2.1
+ARG DICT_VERSION=v1.3.0
 COPY --from=build /out/backend /usr/local/bin/backend
 # Own the seed dictionary as the nonroot runtime user (UID 65532): a named volume
 # mounted at /opt/dawg inherits this ownership on first use, so the admin console
diff --git a/backend/README.md b/backend/README.md
index a833500..5a6230b 100644
--- a/backend/README.md
+++ b/backend/README.md
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ internal/banview/    # gateway active-ban mirror: the console's Active IP bans p
 ```sh
 docker run -d --name scrabble-pg -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=dev -p 5432:5432 postgres:17-alpine
 # DAWGs: extract the dictionary release artifact (or point at a local scrabble-solver/dawg):
-mkdir -p /tmp/dawg && curl -fsSL https://gitea.iliadenisov.ru/developer/scrabble-dictionary/releases/download/v1.2.1/scrabble-dawg-v1.2.1.tar.gz | tar xz -C /tmp/dawg
+mkdir -p /tmp/dawg && curl -fsSL https://gitea.iliadenisov.ru/developer/scrabble-dictionary/releases/download/v1.3.0/scrabble-dawg-v1.3.0.tar.gz | tar xz -C /tmp/dawg
 BACKEND_POSTGRES_DSN='postgres://postgres:dev@localhost:5432/postgres?search_path=backend&sslmode=disable' \
   BACKEND_DICT_DIR=/tmp/dawg \
   GOPRIVATE='gitea.iliadenisov.ru/*' \
diff --git a/deploy/.env.example b/deploy/.env.example
index 584b9af..027b307 100644
--- a/deploy/.env.example
+++ b/deploy/.env.example
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change-me            # required
 # the active version lives in the DB. On a live volume a changed value is ignored (the
 # recorded .seed_version marker wins — the seed-drift guard); change a running
 # contour's dictionary through /_gm/dictionary (ARCHITECTURE.md §5).
-DICT_VERSION=v1.2.1
+DICT_VERSION=v1.3.0
 
 # --- Logging ----------------------------------------------------------------
 LOG_LEVEL=info
diff --git a/deploy/README.md b/deploy/README.md
index 7007af3..24cc2cf 100644
--- a/deploy/README.md
+++ b/deploy/README.md
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ without it Docker's resolver handles `otelcol`, `gateway` and `api.telegram.org`
 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
 | `POSTGRES_DB` | variable | `scrabble` | Database name. |
 | `POSTGRES_USER` | variable | `scrabble` | Database user. |
-| `DICT_VERSION` | variable | `v1.2.1` | `scrabble-dictionary` release tag baked into the backend image as the **seed for a fresh volume** (build-arg). A live contour changes dictionary through the admin console, not this; on a seeded volume a changed value is ignored (the recorded `.seed_version` marker wins — the seed-drift guard, ARCHITECTURE.md §5). Set per contour as `TEST_`/`PROD_DICT_VERSION`. |
+| `DICT_VERSION` | variable | `v1.3.0` | `scrabble-dictionary` release tag baked into the backend image as the **seed for a fresh volume** (build-arg). A live contour changes dictionary through the admin console, not this; on a seeded volume a changed value is ignored (the recorded `.seed_version` marker wins — the seed-drift guard, ARCHITECTURE.md §5). Set per contour as `TEST_`/`PROD_DICT_VERSION`. |
 | `LOG_LEVEL` | variable | `info` | Shared log level for backend / gateway / validator / bot (`debug\|info\|warn\|error`). |
 | `CADDY_SITE_ADDRESS` | variable | `:80` | Caddy site address. Test: `:80` (host caddy terminates TLS). Prod: a domain, so caddy does its own ACME. |
 | `GM_BASICAUTH_USER` | variable | `gm` | Username for the `/_gm` Basic-Auth. |
diff --git a/deploy/docker-compose.yml b/deploy/docker-compose.yml
index 12f7cb4..143eade 100644
--- a/deploy/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/deploy/docker-compose.yml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ services:
       args:
         # Seed dictionary for a FRESH volume; the per-contour value comes from the
         # deploy env (Gitea TEST_/PROD_DICT_VERSION). See the volume note below.
-        DICT_VERSION: ${DICT_VERSION:-v1.2.1}
+        DICT_VERSION: ${DICT_VERSION:-v1.3.0}
         # Build version stamped into the binary (git tag; see pkg/version).
         VERSION: ${APP_VERSION:-dev}
     restart: unless-stopped
diff --git a/loadtest/Dockerfile b/loadtest/Dockerfile
index 410bd34..1103051 100644
--- a/loadtest/Dockerfile
+++ b/loadtest/Dockerfile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 # --- dictionary artifact -----------------------------------------------------
 FROM alpine:3.20 AS dawg
-ARG DICT_VERSION=v1.2.1
+ARG DICT_VERSION=v1.3.0
 RUN apk add --no-cache curl tar
 RUN mkdir -p /dawg \
  && curl -fsSL -o /tmp/dawg.tar.gz \