macOS derives the translucent menu bar's own light/dark treatment by sampling the desktop picture, and that derivation wedges. Measured today: system in Dark, wallpaper a near-black green, every window on screen dark — and the empty menu bar still sampling RGB 115,137,151, light gray with black text. Pushing a fresh wallpaper does not dislodge it; slab had already set several dark tints across the day and the bar stayed light. Re-applying the identical URL and options does nothing either. Restarting the Dock is the only thing that makes WindowServer re-derive it — the same sample then read 30,52,66, dark with white text. So nudge the Dock, but only on a real dark↔light flip: the tint color itself changes on every task state change, and restarting the Dock that often would be intolerable. Both tint paths now share one push, which is where the flip is noticed.