diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ec29b58..5dee75d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -378,7 +378,9 @@ numbers that skews the draw, and `parent` the table a column links to
 columns are the [record](#records)'s columns, so `--format csv` writes the rows and
 `--list` shows `country.alpha2`. A cell is a string node: `1{digits(2)} {digits(2)}`
 in a cell draws digits and `{/misc.uuid}` reads a reference, while `{name}` in a cell
-is refused, since a cell has no sibling. `New` proves the header, the options and every
+is refused, since a cell has no sibling. Each cell may select its own row of another
+table, `{/misc.currency[SEK].symbol}` on one row and `{/misc.currency[EUR].symbol}`
+on the next, since only one row renders. `New` proves the header, the options and every
 cell token, and refuses a TSV no category names, a key that is empty or repeats, a
 weight that is not a positive number, and a key or name holding `[`, `]`, `{`, `}`,
 `"` or `|`, which a selector cannot spell; the rows are indexed on the first draw that
@@ -956,6 +958,16 @@ renamed or retyped line is a major.
   against the parent's keys and a key's uniqueness is a data mistake, so both are
   load-time; the name index and the per-parent child lists serve only a draw or a
   selection, so they wait for the first one, keeping `New` linear in the bytes read.
+- **Two categories may name one TSV.** Each is a view of the file with its own
+  format and options, at the cost of holding the rows twice, which is what a
+  category over a register with two natural formats asks for; a TSV nothing names
+  stays a load error, since that one is a file forgotten rather than shared.
+- **The cells of one column are alternatives.** Only one row renders, so two cells
+  selecting different rows of another table never meet, as two items of a choice
+  never do; the family fence replays the reads of each cell apart, together with
+  the reads outside any cell. A path is walked once without drawing before it is
+  walked for real, so a path that fails below its first level moves no seeded
+  stream.
 - **`List` advertises direct descents only.** `region.municipality.locality` is
   listed, and `region.locality` resolves too but is not: the set of every descent
   through a chain of five tables is every subsequence of it, and the direct chain is
diff --git a/draw.go b/draw.go
index dc6292d..747eda5 100644
--- a/draw.go
+++ b/draw.go
@@ -270,10 +270,18 @@ type drawWalk struct {
 	seen  map[drawVisit]bool
 }
 
-// drawAt is where a walk stands: the draw group it draws in, and how the render's root reached it.
+// drawAt is where a walk stands: the draw group it draws in, how the render's root reached it, and
+// the table cell it entered, if any: the cells of one column are alternatives, as a choice's items
+// are, so reads in two of them never meet.
 type drawAt struct {
 	group string
 	route drawRoute
+	cell  node
+}
+
+// alternatives reports whether two reads sit in different cells of one column.
+func alternatives(a, b drawAt) bool {
+	return a.cell != nil && b.cell != nil && a.cell != b.cell
 }
 
 // drawRoute is how a render reaches a draw: as its author spells it, and the root edge's label.
@@ -314,7 +322,11 @@ func (w *drawWalk) walk(n node, at drawAt) {
 	if t, isTemplate := n.(*template); isTemplate && t.drawGroupKey != "" {
 		at.group = t.drawGroupKey
 	}
+	_, isColumn := n.(*column)
 	for _, e := range renderEdges(n) {
+		if isColumn {
+			at.cell = e.to
+		}
 		w.edge(n, e, at)
 	}
 }
@@ -341,7 +353,7 @@ func (w *drawWalk) check() error {
 	})
 	for i, level := range w.reads {
 		for _, into := range w.reads[i+1:] {
-			if into.at.group != level.at.group {
+			if into.at.group != level.at.group || alternatives(level.at, into.at) {
 				continue
 			}
 			if strings.HasPrefix(into.a.path, level.a.path+".") && !(level.tr != nil && level.tr.whole) {
diff --git a/family.go b/family.go
index 6835f8a..34457ae 100644
--- a/family.go
+++ b/family.go
@@ -227,26 +227,47 @@ func (r *tableRead) selected(t *table) (tableSel, bool) {
 // a table one read draws that another pins, and two reads pinning different rows.
 // The reads come sorted by group and path, so which pair is reported does not vary.
 func checkFamilies(reads []pathRead) error {
-	shared := map[string]*draws{}
 	for i, r := range reads {
 		if r.tr == nil {
 			continue
 		}
 		for _, o := range reads[:i] {
-			if o.tr == nil || o.at.group != r.at.group || o.tr.head.family() != r.tr.head.family() {
+			if o.tr == nil || o.at.group != r.at.group || alternatives(o.at, r.at) || o.tr.head.family() != r.tr.head.family() {
 				continue
 			}
 			if err := checkFamilyPair(o, r); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 		}
-		d := shared[r.at.group]
-		if d == nil {
-			d = &draws{}
-			shared[r.at.group] = d
+	}
+	return replayAlternatives(reads)
+}
+
+// replayAlternatives replays the reads of each draw group into one draws per cell
+// alternative — the reads outside any cell, then the cell's own — so two cells of
+// one column are never replayed together.
+func replayAlternatives(reads []pathRead) error {
+	type alt struct {
+		group string
+		cell  node
+	}
+	var alts []alt
+	seen := map[alt]bool{}
+	for _, r := range reads {
+		if a := (alt{r.at.group, r.at.cell}); r.tr != nil && !seen[a] {
+			seen[a] = true
+			alts = append(alts, a)
 		}
-		if err := r.tr.replay(d); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w; select the same rows in every path into the family, or draw them apart with a drawGroup", r.at.route.spelled(r.a.name), err)
+	}
+	for _, a := range alts {
+		var d draws
+		for _, r := range reads {
+			if r.tr == nil || r.at.group != a.group || r.at.cell != nil && r.at.cell != a.cell {
+				continue
+			}
+			if err := r.tr.replay(&d); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s: %w; select the same rows in every path into the family, or draw them apart with a drawGroup", r.at.route.spelled(r.a.name), err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/path.go b/path.go
index 683a4ab..5d85b8b 100644
--- a/path.go
+++ b/path.go
@@ -189,12 +189,15 @@ func (w pathWalk) atLeaf(n node) error {
 // by the pins' session where the walk names no choice action.
 func walkChoice(c *choice, tail []string, w pathWalk) (node, error) {
 	if w.choice == nil {
-		if w.pins == nil || w.pins.s == nil {
+		if w.pins == nil {
 			return nil, nil
 		}
 		if err := carriedByAll(c, tail); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		if w.pins.s == nil { // a probe: every variant carries the tail, so any one proves it
+			return walkPath(c.items[0], tail, w)
+		}
 		return walkPath(pick(w.pins.s, c), tail, w)
 	}
 	next, err := w.choice(c, tail)
diff --git a/render.go b/render.go
index bda6ea5..97b84a0 100644
--- a/render.go
+++ b/render.go
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ func (f *Generator) Fake(path string) (string, error) {
 // carries before a variant is picked — a path that resolves at all resolves on
 // every call.
 func descend(s *session, root node, segments []string, sc drawScope) (node, error) {
+	// Walked once without drawing first, so a path that fails moves no seeded stream.
+	var probe draws
+	if _, err := walkPath(root, segments, pathWalk{pins: &probe}); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	return walkPath(root, segments, pathWalk{pins: sc.draws(s)})
 }