diff --git a/e2e/playground-spec-live.spec.ts b/e2e/playground-spec-live.spec.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 369d46f..0000000
--- a/e2e/playground-spec-live.spec.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-// LIVE playground speculative-tier verification — downloads the real
-// drafter+verifier pair through the assets proxy and decodes in the
-// browser with the verifier deciding every token. Opt-in (SPEC_E2E=1):
-//   SPEC_E2E=1 npx playwright test e2e/playground-spec-live.spec.ts
-import { expect, test } from "@playwright/test"
-
-test("speculative tier downloads both models and vocalizes in the browser", async ({ page }) => {
-  test.skip(!process.env.SPEC_E2E, "live download test — set SPEC_E2E=1")
-  test.setTimeout(900_000)
-  await page.goto(`${process.env.SPEC_E2E_BASE ?? "http://localhost:4321"}/playground`)
-  await page.fill("#input", "قوله فحكمها في الوفاة")
-  await page.selectOption("#vocalize", "spec:ara-diac-small-2.1-int8")
-  await page.click("#run")
-  // both downloads stream progress, then the pair decodes
-  await expect(page.locator("#status")).toBeVisible({ timeout: 30_000 })
-  const vocalized = page.locator("#vocalized")
-  // fresh profile = 359 MB total; budget for a slow network
-  await expect(vocalized).not.toBeEmpty({ timeout: 840_000 })
-  const text = (await vocalized.textContent()) ?? ""
-  expect(text).toMatch(/[ً-ْٰٓ-ٕ]/)
-  expect(text).not.toMatch(/Error|cause:/)
-  // the acceptance readout surfaces once the worker call resolves
-  // after the vocalized text — poll rather than read once
-  await expect(page.locator("#status")).toContainText("accepted", { timeout: 60_000 })
-})
diff --git a/src/pages/playground.astro b/src/pages/playground.astro
index 8da25df..7ad9bb5 100644
--- a/src/pages/playground.astro
+++ b/src/pages/playground.astro
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@ import catalogue from "../data/maps-catalogue.json"
           <option value="">Off — deterministic maps only</option>
           <option value="ara-diac-layerdrop-1.0-int4">Arabic lite (int4, 95 MB, downloads once)</option>
           <option value="ara-diac-small-2.1-int8">Arabic 2.1 (int8, 264 MB, downloads once)</option>
-          <option value="spec:ara-diac-small-2.1-int8">
-            Arabic 2.1 + speculative (int4 drafts it, 359 MB, downloads once)
-          </option>
         </select>
 
         <label for="filter">System</label>
@@ -168,10 +165,6 @@ import catalogue from "../data/maps-catalogue.json"
     if (!voc) {
       return `import { transliterateAsync } from "interscript"\n\nconst out = await transliterateAsync(\n  "${code}",\n  "…",\n)`
     }
-    if (voc.startsWith("spec:")) {
-      const verifier = voc.slice(5)
-      return `import { transliterateAsync } from "interscript"\nimport { imf } from "interscript/ml"\n\nconst drafter = await imf.IMFModel.fromZipBytes(\n  (await imf.resolve("ara-diac-layerdrop-1.0-int4")).bytes,\n)\nconst verifierModel = await imf.IMFModel.fromZipBytes(\n  (await imf.resolve("${verifier}")).bytes,\n)\nconst spec = new imf.SpeculativeModel(drafter, verifierModel)\nconst vocalized = await spec.translate("…")\nconst out = await transliterateAsync(\n  "${code}",\n  vocalized,\n)`
-    }
     return `import { transliterateAsync } from "interscript"\nimport { imf } from "interscript/ml"\n\nconst resolved = await imf.resolve("${voc}")\nconst model = await imf.IMFModel.fromZipBytes(resolved.bytes)\nconst vocalized = await model.translate("…")\nconst out = await transliterateAsync(\n  "${code}",\n  vocalized,\n)`
   }
   $("snippet").textContent = snippetText()
@@ -189,10 +182,7 @@ import catalogue from "../data/maps-catalogue.json"
   async function ensureModel(id: string) {
     if (mlModel && mlModelId === id) return mlModel
     const status = $("status")
-    const spec = id.startsWith("spec:")
-    const verifierId = spec ? id.slice(5) : id
-    const drafterId = spec ? "ara-diac-layerdrop-1.0-int4" : ""
-    const wanted = spec ? [drafterId, verifierId] : [verifierId]
+    const wanted = [id]
     const models: Record<string, Awaited<ReturnType<typeof imf.IMFModel.fromZipBytes>>> = {}
     for (const wantedId of wanted) {
       status.hidden = false
@@ -204,12 +194,7 @@ import catalogue from "../data/maps-catalogue.json"
       })
       models[wantedId] = await imf.IMFModel.fromZipBytes(resolved.bytes)
     }
-    mlModel = spec
-      ? (new imf.SpeculativeModel(models[drafterId]!, models[verifierId]!) as unknown as {
-          translate(t: string, m?: number): Promise<string>
-          stats(): { accepted: number; drafted: number; blocks: number } | undefined
-        })
-      : (models[verifierId] as unknown as { translate(t: string, m?: number): Promise<string> })
+    mlModel = models[id] as unknown as { translate(t: string, m?: number): Promise<string> }
     mlModelId = id
     status.hidden = true
     return mlModel
@@ -234,15 +219,6 @@ import catalogue from "../data/maps-catalogue.json"
       }
       const result = await worker.transliterate(systemSelect.value, text)
       out.textContent = result
-      if (modelId?.startsWith("spec:") && mlModel) {
-        const stats = (
-          mlModel as { stats?: () => { accepted: number; drafted: number; blocks: number } }
-        ).stats?.()
-        if (stats) {
-          status.hidden = false
-          status.textContent = `Speculative: ${stats.accepted}/${stats.drafted} draft tokens accepted across ${stats.blocks} verifier passes`
-        }
-      }
       const share = new URLSearchParams({
         q: ($("input") as HTMLTextAreaElement).value,
         sys: systemSelect.value,