diff --git a/ui/e2e/zoom.spec.ts b/ui/e2e/zoom.spec.ts
index 0893b45..de2ff71 100644
--- a/ui/e2e/zoom.spec.ts
+++ b/ui/e2e/zoom.spec.ts
@@ -52,3 +52,37 @@ test('zoomed board clamps overscroll at the edge', async ({ page }) => {
   expect(ob.x).toBe('none');
   expect(ob.y).toBe('none');
 });
+
+// A hint taken while the board is ALREADY zoomed in must still scroll to the played word — the
+// zoom state does not change, so without an explicit recenter the board stays parked where the
+// player was looking (the reported rough edge). The mock hint plays at the centre star (7,7), so
+// zooming into the top-left corner first and then hinting must pan the board toward the centre.
+test('a hint recentres an already-zoomed board on the played word', async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.goto('/');
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /guest/i }).click();
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /Ann/ }).click();
+
+  // Zoom into the top-left cell (far from the centre where the hint lands).
+  await page
+    .locator('[data-cell]:not(.filled)')
+    .first()
+    .evaluate((el: HTMLElement) => {
+      el.click();
+      el.click();
+    });
+  const viewport = page.locator('.viewport.zoomed');
+  await expect(viewport).toBeVisible();
+  await page.waitForTimeout(400); // let the zoom-in settle near the top-left corner
+  const before = await viewport.evaluate((el) => ({ left: el.scrollLeft, top: el.scrollTop }));
+
+  // Take a hint (the control confirms on a second tap), which plays at the centre.
+  const hint = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Hint' });
+  await hint.click();
+  await hint.click();
+  await page.waitForTimeout(300); // the board pans to the hint word
+
+  const after = await viewport.evaluate((el) => ({ left: el.scrollLeft, top: el.scrollTop }));
+  // The board panned from the top-left toward the centre word: both offsets grew.
+  expect(after.left).toBeGreaterThan(before.left + 20);
+  expect(after.top).toBeGreaterThan(before.top + 20);
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/game/Board.svelte b/ui/src/game/Board.svelte
index 9c33563..6f4557a 100644
--- a/ui/src/game/Board.svelte
+++ b/ui/src/game/Board.svelte
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     lines,
     locale,
     focus,
+    recenter,
     dropTarget,
     oncell,
     ontogglezoom,
@@ -39,6 +40,9 @@
     lines: boolean;
     locale: Locale;
     focus: { row: number; col: number } | null;
+    /** A monotonic nonce the parent bumps to request a scroll to `focus` even when the zoom state
+     *  is unchanged — the hint recentring an already-zoomed board on the word it played. */
+    recenter: number;
     /** The cell a dragged tile is currently aimed at, highlighted as a drop target. */
     dropTarget: { row: number; col: number } | null;
     oncell: (row: number, col: number) => void;
@@ -60,10 +64,17 @@
   // the board's real width grows (zoom-in) or shrinks (zoom-out), so it magnifies evenly
   // from A to B in one motion instead of chasing a per-frame target that the scroll bounds
   // clamp — which made the board lurch one way and then snap back near the edges/centre.
-  // It runs only on a zoom toggle (`zoomed`); changing `focus` while already zoomed does
-  // not recentre, so placing a 2nd+ tile or hovering a dragged tile never jumps the board.
+  // It tracks the zoom toggle (`zoomed`) and the `recenter` nonce; `focus` stays untracked,
+  // so placing a 2nd+ tile or hovering a dragged tile never jumps the board — only a zoom
+  // toggle or an explicit recenter request (the hint) moves it. A recenter with no zoom change
+  // pans straight to `focus`, since the board width is stable and the width-driven tween below
+  // has nothing to ride (the case the owner hit: a hint taken while already zoomed in).
+  // The previous zoom state, to tell a zoom toggle from a recenter request. The board always mounts
+  // zoomed-out, so it starts false and is updated to the live zoom on each effect run.
+  let prevZoom = false;
   $effect(() => {
     const on = zoomed;
+    void recenter; // re-run on an explicit recenter request even when the zoom state is unchanged
     const vp = viewport;
     if (!vp) return;
     const f = untrack(() => focus);
@@ -72,8 +83,6 @@
     if (clientW === 0) return;
     const fitW = clientW; // board width at scale 1 (fills the viewport)
     const fullW = clientW * Z; // board width at full zoom
-    const startSL = vp.scrollLeft;
-    const startST = vp.scrollTop;
     let finalSL = 0;
     let finalST = 0;
     if (on && f) {
@@ -81,6 +90,19 @@
       finalSL = Math.max(0, Math.min((f.col + 0.5) * cell - clientW / 2, fullW - clientW));
       finalST = Math.max(0, Math.min((f.row + 0.5) * cell - clientH / 2, fullW - clientH));
     }
+    const toggled = on !== prevZoom;
+    prevZoom = on;
+    if (!toggled) {
+      // No zoom change: an explicit recenter (the hint) pans straight to the focused word; a stale
+      // run with nothing focused leaves the scroll alone.
+      if (on && f) {
+        vp.scrollLeft = finalSL;
+        vp.scrollTop = finalST;
+      }
+      return;
+    }
+    const startSL = vp.scrollLeft;
+    const startST = vp.scrollTop;
     const fromW = on ? fitW : fullW; // board width when this transition begins
     const toW = on ? fullW : fitW;
     let raf = requestAnimationFrame(function tick() {
diff --git a/ui/src/game/Game.svelte b/ui/src/game/Game.svelte
index c6cc2e8..cc7aa14 100644
--- a/ui/src/game/Game.svelte
+++ b/ui/src/game/Game.svelte
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@
   let zoomed = $state(false);
   let selected = $state<number | null>(null);
   let focus = $state<{ row: number; col: number } | null>(null);
+  // Bumped to ask the board to scroll to `focus` even when the zoom state does not change — the
+  // hint recentring an already-zoomed board on the word it just played (a plain focus change is
+  // deliberately ignored by the board so placing/dragging tiles never jumps it).
+  let recenter = $state(0);
   // A stable id per rack slot, permuted together with the letters on shuffle, so the rack
   // tiles fly to their new positions (Rack's hop animation) instead of relabelling in place.
   let rackIds = $state<number[]>([]);
@@ -629,6 +633,10 @@
             row: Math.round((Math.min(...rows) + Math.max(...rows)) / 2),
             col: Math.round((Math.min(...cols) + Math.max(...cols)) / 2),
           };
+          // Ask the board to scroll to the hint word. A zoom-out board zooms in (and centres) on
+          // the next line; this nonce also recentres a board that is already zoomed in, where the
+          // unchanged zoom state would otherwise leave it parked where the player was looking.
+          recenter++;
         }
         if (isCoarse()) zoomed = true;
         view = { ...view, hintsRemaining: h.hintsRemaining };
@@ -929,6 +937,7 @@
           lines={app.boardLines}
           locale={app.locale}
           {focus}
+          {recenter}
           {dropTarget}
           oncell={onCell}
           ontogglezoom={(r, c) => { focus = { row: r, col: c }; if (!gameOver) zoomed = !zoomed; }}