diff --git a/explorer.qmd b/explorer.qmd
index fd61702..f5c83d8 100644
--- a/explorer.qmd
+++ b/explorer.qmd
@@ -239,9 +239,13 @@ Circle size = log(sample count). Color = dominant data source.
 
 <!-- Static layout: globe + side panel. Updated via DOM, not OJS reactivity. -->
 <div class="search-bar">
-<input type="text" id="sampleSearch" placeholder="Search samples - multiple words narrow results (e.g., pottery Cyprus)" />
+<input type="text" id="sampleSearch" placeholder="Search samples — multiple words narrow results (e.g., basalt California)" />
 <button id="searchBtn">Search</button>
 </div>
+<div class="search-help" style="font-size: 11px; color: #888; padding: 2px 0 6px 0; line-height: 1.3;">
+Searches sample labels and place names only — descriptions are not yet indexed.
+<a href="https://github.com/isamplesorg/isamplesorg.github.io/issues/169" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #888; text-decoration: underline;">Tracking issue: substrate FTS will lift this</a>.
+</div>
 <div id="searchResults" class="search-results"></div>
 
 <div class="view-toolbar">
diff --git a/query-spec.qmd b/query-spec.qmd
index 795f476..cd7b6aa 100644
--- a/query-spec.qmd
+++ b/query-spec.qmd
@@ -221,8 +221,14 @@ Solr `searchText` copy-field target, canonical list):
 - `curation_label`, `curation_description`, `curation_location`
 
 Substrates that can't index all 15 fields MUST document which subset
-they cover and surface the limitation in UI. (The current web Explorer
-covers `label` + `description` + `place_name` only — a known gap.)
+they cover and surface the limitation in UI. (As of 2026-05-08, the
+current web Explorer covers `label` + `place_name` only against
+`samples_map_lite.parquet`, which does not carry `description` —
+a known gap that broke `pottery Cyprus` and similar queries in the
+#167 baseline. The substrate work in
+[#169](https://github.com/isamplesorg/isamplesorg.github.io/issues/169)
+will lift this by adding `description` *and* dereferenced concept
+labels in the v1 minimum field set.)
 
 Multi-term queries default to **AND** with relevance ranking where the
 substrate supports it (Solr, DuckDB FTS). See PR #95 for web-side FTS