The host is asked before beginning while a seat is still held for someone on their way, since the seat goes once the game begins; and the gallery says the game began before they arrived, so whoever was called and finds the table under way knows why there is no seat

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0141G6xqLeNRYEtviLWSB5Up

template/src/routes/join/[code]/+page.svelte

@@ -246,7 +246,8 @@
 {#if watching && room?.started && !room.view.over}
 	<div class="notice muted">
 		{#if seatLost}<p>{seatLost} Claim it here, or <a href="mailto:eric@ericwagoner.com?subject={encodeURIComponent(`My seat in room ${roomId}`)}">write to the keeper</a>.</p>
-		{:else}<p>Had a seat at this table? Ask the host for a transfer phrase, or make one on the device that still holds the seat, and claim it here. Or <a href="mailto:eric@ericwagoner.com?subject={encodeURIComponent(`My seat in room ${roomId}`)}">write to the keeper</a> for a link that brings it back.</p>{/if}
+		{:else}{#if room.view.expected.length > 0}<p>{room.nameOf(room.view.host)} began the game before {room.view.expected.join(' and ')} arrived, and the seat held for {room.view.expected.length === 1 ? 'them' : 'each'} went with it.</p>{/if}
+			<p>Had a seat at this table? Ask the host for a transfer phrase, or make one on the device that still holds the seat, and claim it here. Or <a href="mailto:eric@ericwagoner.com?subject={encodeURIComponent(`My seat in room ${roomId}`)}">write to the keeper</a> for a link that brings it back.</p>{/if}
 		<form class="sit" onsubmit={claim}>
 			<input type="text" bind:value={claimPhrase} placeholder="the four-word phrase" autocomplete="off" aria-label="transfer phrase" />
 			<button type="submit" class="quiet" disabled={claiming || claimPhrase.trim().split(/[\s-]+/).length < 4}>Claim the seat</button>