diff --git a/src/layouts/ArticleLayout.astro b/src/layouts/ArticleLayout.astro
index 52cf08d..dbc464a 100644
--- a/src/layouts/ArticleLayout.astro
+++ b/src/layouts/ArticleLayout.astro
@@ -4,12 +4,17 @@ import Footer from "../components/Footer.astro";
 import Splash from "../components/Splash.astro";
 import { getSiteTitle } from "../utils/siteConfig";
 import { normalizeText } from "../utils/data";
+import { stripShortcodes } from "../utils/shortcodes";
 const siteTitle = await getSiteTitle();
 
 const siteUrl = "https://www.thetriangle.org";
 const cleanText = (value: unknown): string => normalizeText(String(value ?? ""));
+// Shortcodes are stripped rather than expanded here: the body is the last
+// fallback for <meta name="description">, and a crossword post whose whole body
+// is [puzzleme ...] would otherwise describe itself to search engines and
+// social cards with its embed ids.
 const truncateDescription = (value: unknown): string => {
-  const text = cleanText(value);
+  const text = cleanText(stripShortcodes(String(value ?? "")));
   if (text.length <= 160) return text;
   const clipped = text.slice(0, 157);
   const lastSpace = clipped.lastIndexOf(" ");
diff --git a/src/utils/db.js b/src/utils/db.js
index e9ae0cb..f4ae3ea 100644
--- a/src/utils/db.js
+++ b/src/utils/db.js
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
  * @typedef {import('./types').ArticleComments} ArticleComments
  */
 
+import { stripShortcodes } from "./shortcodes";
+
 const cmsBaseUrl = import.meta.env.CMS_API_BASE_URL ?? "https://localhost:8080/v1";
 const normalizedCmsBaseUrl = String(cmsBaseUrl).replace(/\/$/, "");
 
@@ -21,6 +23,30 @@ function normalizeArticle(post) {
   return post;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Strip WordPress shortcodes out of every excerpt in a CMS payload.
+ *
+ * Done here rather than at the ~10 places an excerpt is rendered: excerpts ride
+ * along inside a different shape on every endpoint (homepage sections, section
+ * and author listings, search) and reach the page through cards, the RSS feed,
+ * the infinite-scroll route and <meta name="description">. Walking the parsed
+ * body once covers all of them, and the payloads are a page of articles.
+ * @template T
+ * @param {T} value
+ * @returns {T}
+ */
+function sanitizeExcerpts(value) {
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+    value.forEach(sanitizeExcerpts);
+  } else if (value && typeof value === 'object') {
+    if (typeof value.excerpt === 'string') {
+      value.excerpt = stripShortcodes(value.excerpt).replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim();
+    }
+    Object.values(value).forEach(sanitizeExcerpts);
+  }
+  return value;
+}
+
 /** @returns {Promise<Homepage>} */
 export async function getHomepageArticles() {
   //const url = 'https://cms.thetriangle.org/wp-json/triangle/v1/homepage';
@@ -37,7 +63,7 @@ export async function getHomepageArticles() {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) throw new Error(String(res.status));
-  return res.json();
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(await res.json());
 }
 
 /** @returns {Promise<ClassifiedPost[]>} */
@@ -75,7 +101,7 @@ export async function getSectionArticles(section, page) {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) return;
-  return res.json();
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(await res.json());
 }
 
 export async function getSubsectionArticles(subsection, page) {
@@ -89,7 +115,7 @@ export async function getSubsectionArticles(subsection, page) {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) return;
-  return res.json();
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(await res.json());
 }
 
 /**
@@ -109,7 +135,7 @@ export async function getAuthorArticles(author, page) {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) return;
-  return res.json();
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(await res.json());
 }
 
 /**
@@ -126,7 +152,7 @@ export async function getArticle(article) {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) return;
-  return normalizeArticle(await res.json());
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(normalizeArticle(await res.json()));
 }
 
 /**
@@ -160,7 +186,7 @@ export async function getRandomArticle() {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) return;
-  return res.json();
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(await res.json());
 }
 
 /**
@@ -177,7 +203,7 @@ export async function search(search) {
   });
 
   if (!res.ok) return;
-  return res.json();
+  return sanitizeExcerpts(await res.json());
 }
 /** @returns {Promise<GalleryImage[]>} */
 export async function gallery() {
@@ -209,7 +235,7 @@ export async function getRecentArticles(limit = 20) {
 
   if (!res.ok) return [];
   const body = await res.json();
-  return Array.isArray(body?.articles) ? body.articles : [];
+  return Array.isArray(body?.articles) ? sanitizeExcerpts(body.articles) : [];
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/utils/shortcodes.ts b/src/utils/shortcodes.ts
index 3d26082..83a4b88 100644
--- a/src/utils/shortcodes.ts
+++ b/src/utils/shortcodes.ts
@@ -70,3 +70,28 @@ export function expandShortcodes(content: string): string {
     puzzlemeEmbed(raw),
   );
 }
+
+/**
+ * Two shapes, both narrow enough to leave editorial brackets ("[sic]",
+ * "[Editor's note]") alone: the shortcodes this corpus actually carries, named
+ * explicitly; and any bracketed token carrying attributes, which is what makes
+ * it a shortcode rather than prose. Mirrors shortcodePattern in the CMS's
+ * database/http_models.go, which keeps them out of newly derived excerpts.
+ */
+const shortcodePattern =
+  /\[\/?(?:puzzleme|caption|gallery|embed|playlist|audio|video)\b[^\]]*\]|\[[a-z][a-z0-9_-]*\s+[^\]]*=[^\]]*\]/gis;
+
+/**
+ * Remove shortcodes rather than expand them, for the places that show article
+ * text as plain prose: excerpts and meta descriptions. Only the body has room
+ * for an embed, and an excerpt that is a shortcode is worse than a short one --
+ * a crossword post whose whole body is [puzzleme ...] printed its embed ids
+ * under the headline on section listings, in the RSS feed and in <meta
+ * name="description">. Excerpts stored before the CMS learned to skip
+ * shortcodes still carry them, so this is what actually clears the page.
+ */
+export function stripShortcodes(content: string): string {
+  if (!content || !content.includes("[")) return content;
+
+  return content.replace(shortcodePattern, " ");
+}