diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d500b947..fea73b9f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@ TESTS	= $(BIN)/test_smoke $(BIN)/test_lex $(BIN)/test_parse $(BIN)/test_check \
 	  $(BIN)/test_vararg_seq_percall \
 	  $(BIN)/test_modparam_callee \
 	  $(BIN)/test_convwrap_audit \
+	  $(BIN)/test_slice_of_slice_index \
 	  $(BIN)/test_param_shadow_mod \
 	  $(BIN)/test_localoff_scope \
 	  $(BIN)/test_cast_enum_movl \
@@ -741,6 +742,12 @@ $(BIN)/test_convwrap_audit: test/wcc/753_convwrap_audit.c \
 		$(LIB)/libwwrt.a | $(BIN)
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
 
+$(BIN)/test_slice_of_slice_index: test/wcc/754_slice_of_slice_index.c \
+		$(BIN)/ww $(BIN)/w6c $(BIN)/w6a $(BIN)/w6l \
+		$(BIN)/ww_ww $(BIN)/w6c_ww $(BIN)/w6a_ww $(BIN)/w6l_ww \
+		$(LIB)/libwwrt.a | $(BIN)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $<
+
 $(BIN)/test_match_4arm_cross_module_run: test/wcc/929_match_4arm_cross_module_run.c \
 		$(BIN)/ww $(BIN)/w6c $(BIN)/w6a $(BIN)/w6l \
 		$(BIN)/ww_ww $(BIN)/w6c_ww $(BIN)/w6a_ww $(BIN)/w6l_ww \
diff --git a/cmd/wcc/check.c b/cmd/wcc/check.c
index 90d10d6d..3255adfd 100644
--- a/cmd/wcc/check.c
+++ b/cmd/wcc/check.c
@@ -874,8 +874,14 @@ cexpr(Checker *c, Node *n)
 			return n->type = u->sub;
 		if (u && u->kind == TY_STR)
 			return n->type = ty_u8;
+		/* `*[N]T` auto-decays to `[N]T` indexing — drill into the
+		 * inner T so callers see the element type, matching C's
+		 * pointer-to-array semantics. `*[]T` does NOT auto-decay:
+		 * `p[i]` for `p: *[]T` yields `[]T` via the default `*U → U`
+		 * fall-through below (here U is `[]T`). Hare-faithful: a
+		 * pointer-to-slice is a 1D array of slices, not of T. */
 		if (u && u->kind == TY_PTR && u->sub &&
-		    (u->sub->kind == TY_ARRAY || u->sub->kind == TY_SLICE))
+		    u->sub->kind == TY_ARRAY)
 			return n->type = u->sub->sub;
 		/* C-style pointer indexing: p[i] → *(p+i) */
 		if (u && u->kind == TY_PTR && u->sub)
diff --git a/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww b/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww
index b5f7225d..b1135f81 100644
--- a/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww
+++ b/selfhost/cmd/w6c/main.combined.ww
@@ -8787,6 +8787,10 @@ fn elemsizeof(t: *node) i32 = {
 	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TARRAY) {
 		if (elem.lhs != nil) { elem = elem.lhs; };
 	};
+	// `*[]T`: stride is the slice header (24B). Hare-faithful — a
+	// pointer-to-slice is a 1D array of slices, not of T. Mirrors the
+	// cstage check.c default `*U → U` path for U=[]T (slice element).
+	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TSLICE) { return 24; };
 	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TNAME) {
 		let nm: str = elem.str;
 		// str element is 16B (ptr+len). primsize returns 0 for it.
diff --git a/selfhost/cmd/wcc/cgenutil.ww b/selfhost/cmd/wcc/cgenutil.ww
index ba99fa50..7f699e42 100644
--- a/selfhost/cmd/wcc/cgenutil.ww
+++ b/selfhost/cmd/wcc/cgenutil.ww
@@ -1288,6 +1288,10 @@ fn elemsizeof(t: *node) i32 = {
 	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TARRAY) {
 		if (elem.lhs != nil) { elem = elem.lhs; };
 	};
+	// `*[]T`: stride is the slice header (24B). Hare-faithful — a
+	// pointer-to-slice is a 1D array of slices, not of T. Mirrors the
+	// cstage check.c default `*U → U` path for U=[]T (slice element).
+	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TSLICE) { return 24; };
 	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TNAME) {
 		let nm: str = elem.str;
 		// str element is 16B (ptr+len). primsize returns 0 for it.
diff --git a/selfhost/cmd/wwdump/main.combined.ww b/selfhost/cmd/wwdump/main.combined.ww
index 30178679..ceb20a2a 100644
--- a/selfhost/cmd/wwdump/main.combined.ww
+++ b/selfhost/cmd/wwdump/main.combined.ww
@@ -8787,6 +8787,10 @@ fn elemsizeof(t: *node) i32 = {
 	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TARRAY) {
 		if (elem.lhs != nil) { elem = elem.lhs; };
 	};
+	// `*[]T`: stride is the slice header (24B). Hare-faithful — a
+	// pointer-to-slice is a 1D array of slices, not of T. Mirrors the
+	// cstage check.c default `*U → U` path for U=[]T (slice element).
+	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TSLICE) { return 24; };
 	if (elem.kind == nkind.N_TNAME) {
 		let nm: str = elem.str;
 		// str element is 16B (ptr+len). primsize returns 0 for it.
diff --git a/test/wcc/754_slice_of_slice_index.c b/test/wcc/754_slice_of_slice_index.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d65938d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/wcc/754_slice_of_slice_index.c
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+/*
+ * 754_slice_of_slice_index — sentinel for latent #20. Pre-fix, cstage's
+ * check.c typed `p[i]` for `p: *[]T` as `T` (element-of-element) via a
+ * bespoke TY_PTR-over-TY_SLICE clause that auto-decayed the pointer
+ * twice: first peeling the `*`, then peeling the `[]`. The Hare-faithful
+ * shape is `[]T` — a pointer-to-slice is a 1D array of slice headers,
+ * not a 2D array of T. The `*[N]T → T` auto-decay (TY_PTR over TY_ARRAY)
+ * IS the C-style array-to-element semantics callers expect; only the
+ * TY_SLICE arm of the same clause was wrong.
+ *
+ * Selfhost mirror lived in cgenutil.ww elemsizeof: for `*[]T`, the
+ * elem walk falls into `elem.kind == nkind.N_TSLICE` which had no
+ * recognition — fell through to the catch-all `return 8`. Post-fix
+ * the N_TSLICE arm returns 24 (slice header stride). Both stages now
+ * agree on stride; cstage already computed 24 via Type.size on the
+ * idx_eff(TY_PTR) sub.
+ *
+ * Surface impact (the wedge that flushed this latent): a `[][]u8`
+ * indexed through a `*[][]u8` (e.g. `tokens.ptr[0] = ...` for tokens:
+ * [][]u8) was rejected by cstage's `init u8 not assignable to declared
+ * []u8` and silently 8B-stored by wwstage. Symmetric fix:
+ *   - cstage: drop the TY_SLICE branch in check.c N_INDEX so `*[]T[i]`
+ *     falls through to the default `*U → U` path with U=[]T.
+ *   - wwstage: extend cgenutil.ww elemsizeof to return 24 when the
+ *     elem (post-N_TPTR peel) is N_TSLICE.
+ *
+ * Probes:
+ *   row 0 — `let r: []u8 = p[0]` for `p: *[]u8`. Pre-fix cstage errors
+ *           ("init u8 not assignable to declared []u8"); wwstage
+ *           silently emits an 8B load. Post-fix both stages compile
+ *           and emit the same MOVQ load with stride 24 (slice element
+ *           span — read width is still 8B today; the full 24B slice
+ *           element copy is a separately-tracked downstream gap noted
+ *           at cmd/w6c/cgen.c:6518 ("Slice (24B) and struct/tuple/
+ *           tagged element arrays land in the same multi-word-store
+ *           gap")). Asserts byte-identical asm between stages.
+ *
+ *   row 1 — `let v: u8 = p[0]` for `p: *u8`. Default `*T → T` path:
+ *           unchanged by the fix. Confirms shlex / getopt's
+ *           `slice.ptr[i]` (where `slice.ptr` is `*T` for some
+ *           non-slice T) still routes through the default and emits
+ *           a narrow MOVZBQ. Byte-id between stages.
+ *
+ * No 24B-element-emit assertion: the 24B slice / 16B struct / etc.
+ * multi-word-element copy is a parallel codegen wedge already noted
+ * inline at cgen.c:6515-6523. Splitting keeps this commit bisect-clean
+ * (rule 11).
+ */
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+
+static int
+runwait(const char *cmd)
+{
+	int rc = system(cmd);
+	if (rc == -1) return -1;
+	if (WIFEXITED(rc)) return WEXITSTATUS(rc);
+	return -1;
+}
+
+struct row {
+	const char *label;
+	const char *src;
+	const char *stride_imm;	/* expected `MOVQ\t$<stride>, CX` */
+};
+
+static const struct row rows[] = {
+	/* `p: *[]u8` indexed: result type is `[]u8`, stride = 24
+	 * (slice header). Pre-fix cstage rejected the assignment;
+	 * wwstage silently used stride 8. Post-fix both agree on 24. */
+	{ "ptr_to_slice",
+	  "fn probe(p: *[]u8) i32 = {\n"
+	  "\tlet r: []u8 = p[0];\n"
+	  "\treturn r.len;\n"
+	  "};\n"
+	  "export fn main() i32 = { return 0; };\n",
+	  "MOVQ\t$24, CX" },
+	/* `p: *u8` default path: stride = 1, no MOVQ-$-CX scaling at
+	 * all. Confirms the TY_SLICE-clause removal doesn't re-route
+	 * non-slice pointer indexing. */
+	{ "ptr_to_byte",
+	  "fn probe(p: *u8) i32 = {\n"
+	  "\tlet x: u8 = p[0];\n"
+	  "\treturn x: i32;\n"
+	  "};\n"
+	  "export fn main() i32 = { return 0; };\n",
+	  NULL },
+};
+
+static int
+slurp(const char *path, char *buf, size_t cap)
+{
+	FILE *f = fopen(path, "rb");
+	if (!f) return -1;
+	size_t n = fread(buf, 1, cap - 1, f);
+	fclose(f);
+	buf[n] = '\0';
+	return (int)n;
+}
+
+static int
+emit_s(const char *w6c, const struct row *r, int i, char *out_s, size_t cap)
+{
+	char src[96], cmd[1024];
+	snprintf(src, sizeof src, "/tmp/sosi_%d_%d.ww", getpid(), i);
+	snprintf(out_s, cap, "/tmp/sosi_%d_%d_%s.s",
+	    getpid(), i, w6c[strlen(w6c) - 1] == 'w' ? "ww" : "c");
+
+	FILE *f = fopen(src, "wb");
+	if (!f) return -1;
+	fputs(r->src, f);
+	fclose(f);
+
+	snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "%s -o %s %s 2>/dev/null", w6c, out_s, src);
+	int rc = runwait(cmd);
+	unlink(src);
+	return rc;
+}
+
+static int
+check_stride(const char *spath, const struct row *r, const char *stage)
+{
+	char buf[1 << 14];
+	if (slurp(spath, buf, sizeof buf) < 0) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "row[%s][%s]: cannot read %s\n",
+		    r->label, stage, spath);
+		return -1;
+	}
+	const char *fn = strstr(buf, "TEXT probe");
+	if (!fn) {
+		fprintf(stderr,
+		    "row[%s][%s]: no TEXT probe in %s\n",
+		    r->label, stage, spath);
+		return -1;
+	}
+	const char *ret = strstr(fn, "\tRET\n");
+	if (!ret) ret = fn + strlen(fn);
+	if (r->stride_imm) {
+		const char *m = strstr(fn, r->stride_imm);
+		if (!m || m >= ret) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "row[%s][%s]: expected `%s` inside TEXT probe\n",
+			    r->label, stage, r->stride_imm);
+			return -1;
+		}
+	} else {
+		const char *m = strstr(fn, "\tMOVQ\t$");
+		while (m && m < ret) {
+			const char *eol = strchr(m, '\n');
+			if (eol && eol < ret &&
+			    strstr(m, ", CX\n") && (strstr(m, ", CX\n") < eol)) {
+				fprintf(stderr,
+				    "row[%s][%s]: unexpected MOVQ $imm, CX "
+				    "(scale) inside TEXT probe — `*u8` path "
+				    "should index with stride 1\n",
+				    r->label, stage);
+				return -1;
+			}
+			m = eol ? strstr(eol, "\tMOVQ\t$") : NULL;
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int
+main(void)
+{
+	const char *bin = getenv("BIN");
+	if (!bin) bin = "out/bin";
+	char absbin[512];
+	if (bin[0] != '/') {
+		char cwd[256];
+		if (getcwd(cwd, sizeof cwd) == NULL) return 1;
+		snprintf(absbin, sizeof absbin, "%s/%s", cwd, bin);
+		bin = absbin;
+	}
+
+	char w6c[640], w6c_ww[640];
+	snprintf(w6c, sizeof w6c, "%s/w6c", bin);
+	snprintf(w6c_ww, sizeof w6c_ww, "%s/w6c_ww", bin);
+
+	int have_ww = (access(w6c_ww, X_OK) == 0);
+	int n = (int)(sizeof rows / sizeof rows[0]);
+	int total = 0, fail = 0;
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+		char cs_path[128], ws_path[128];
+
+		if (emit_s(w6c, &rows[i], i, cs_path, sizeof cs_path) != 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "slice_of_slice_index[cstage][%s]: w6c failed\n",
+			    rows[i].label);
+			fail++; total++; continue;
+		}
+		total++;
+		if (check_stride(cs_path, &rows[i], "cstage") != 0) fail++;
+
+		if (!have_ww) { unlink(cs_path); continue; }
+
+		if (emit_s(w6c_ww, &rows[i], i, ws_path, sizeof ws_path) != 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "slice_of_slice_index[wwstage][%s]: w6c_ww failed\n",
+			    rows[i].label);
+			fail++; total++;
+			unlink(cs_path); continue;
+		}
+		total++;
+		if (check_stride(ws_path, &rows[i], "wwstage") != 0) fail++;
+
+		total++;
+		char cmd[512];
+		snprintf(cmd, sizeof cmd, "cmp -s %s %s", cs_path, ws_path);
+		if (runwait(cmd) != 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "slice_of_slice_index[%s]: cstage vs wwstage asm "
+			    "differs\n",
+			    rows[i].label);
+			fail++;
+		}
+
+		unlink(cs_path); unlink(ws_path);
+	}
+
+	if (fail) {
+		fprintf(stderr,
+		    "slice_of_slice_index: %d/%d fixtures failed\n",
+		    fail, total);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	printf("slice_of_slice_index: %d/%d ok\n", total, total);
+	return 0;
+}