diff --git a/static/global.css b/static/global.css
index 4c128f2..4a41124 100755
--- a/static/global.css
+++ b/static/global.css
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   --line-color: #3d444d;
   --font-sans: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif;
   --font-mono: ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Menlo, "Cascadia Code", Consolas, "Liberation Mono", monospace;
-  --content-width: 42rem;
+  --content-width: 40rem;
   --logo-gap: 1.25rem;
   --logo-nav-gap: 1.5rem;
   --gutter: clamp(1rem, 4vw, 1.5rem);
@@ -371,7 +371,8 @@ footer div {
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: column;
   gap: 0.6rem;
-  margin-top: 1.8rem; /* same gap above the title as the blog index page */
+  /* same gap above the title as the blog index page */
+  margin-top: 1.8rem;
   margin-bottom: 1.5rem;
   padding-bottom: 1rem;
   border-bottom: 3px solid var(--accent-color);
@@ -389,12 +390,6 @@ footer div {
   font-size: 0.9rem;
 }
 
-/* long-form text: reset to 1rem (main's base is slightly larger) */
-.blog-page-content p,
-.blog-page-content li {
-  font-size: 1rem;
-}
-
 /* in-post headings */
 .blog-page-content h1,
 .blog-page-content h2,
diff --git a/templates/index.html b/templates/index.html
index 022fe77..0d136a6 100644
--- a/templates/index.html
+++ b/templates/index.html
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
       {% for page in blog.pages %}
         {% if loop.index <= 5 %}
           <li class="blog-item">
-            <div>
-              <a href="{{ page.permalink | safe }}">{{ page.title }}</a>
-            </div>
+            <a href="{{ page.permalink | safe }}">{{ page.title }}</a>
             <span class="blog-item-meta">{{ page.date | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }}</span>
           </li>
         {% endif %}