diff --git a/ROADMAP.md b/ROADMAP.md
index f5daa2d3..34363573 100644
--- a/ROADMAP.md
+++ b/ROADMAP.md
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ app's JSON control channel (`deckcraft --control PORT`).
 
 | Date | What landed |
 |---|---|
+| 2026-10-21 | Opening a .pptx puts the text of shapes without an anchor at the top even when the theme's shape defaults (`spDef`) centre new shapes, as PowerPoint for Mac draws them; checked with a synthetic probe and on a private 166-deck corpus (51 slides closer to PowerPoint's PDF, none further) |
 | 2026-10-18 | Native chart sidecar bytes move from JSON arrays into referenced ZIP entries, with shared media byte/item limits and bounded reads; older inline sidecars still load. Synthetic format regressions cover large workbooks and malformed members |
 | 2026-10-17 | Opening a file caps absurd effect sizes (glow, soft edges, shadows, reflections, on shapes, text and table text) at what Format Shape allows: a glow of 10^18 pt in a .pptx made rendering ask for 34 GB and abort |
 | 2026-10-17 | Opening a .deckcraft file whose shapes repeat an id gives the repeats fresh ids (groups, layouts and masters too), so the deck validates and edits by id find one shape |
@@ -245,6 +246,7 @@ app's JSON control channel (`deckcraft --control PORT`).
 | 2026-10-15 | trivial | Progress log: PPTX trigger click-step round trip. Feature scores and milestone names unchanged |
 | 2026-10-16 | trivial | Progress log: PNG export with a transparent background (#784) |
 | 2026-10-16 | trivial | Progress log: a `.ppsx` from the system starts the slide show (#862) |
+| 2026-10-21 | trivial | Progress log: theme `spDef` anchor no longer applied to a file's own shapes |
 | 2026-10-14 | trivial | remote MCP checks reply IDs, envelopes and bounded newline framing (#718) |
 | 2026-10-14 | minor | Gray list markers on empty paragraphs while editing; caret keeps the list indent before typing |
 | 2026-10-14 | minor | Community PR wave folded: headline breadth 84% over 191 features (P0 92%, P1 82%, P2 55%) and the feature-area breadths from `cargo xtask parity`; one row per area; Upcoming item 2 merged; per-PR count notes dropped from the progress log. Ready stays ~55%, stage alpha |
diff --git a/crates/pptx/src/read/mod.rs b/crates/pptx/src/read/mod.rs
index 979cdb70..644ffa8f 100644
--- a/crates/pptx/src/read/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/pptx/src/read/mod.rs
@@ -781,24 +781,14 @@ pub fn color_map(cm: &El) -> Vec<(String, String)> {
     cm.attrs.iter().filter(|(k, _)| !k.starts_with("xmlns")).map(|(k, v)| (k.clone(), v.clone())).collect()
 }
 
-/// The anchor the theme's shape defaults (`a:objectDefaults/a:spDef/a:bodyPr`) give new shapes
-/// text, if any.
-fn theme_shape_anchor(t: &deckcraft_model::Theme) -> Option<deckcraft_model::text::Anchor> {
-    let raw = t.raw_extra.as_deref()?;
-    let sp = &raw[raw.find("spDef")?..];
-    let sp = &sp[..sp.find("/a:spDef").or_else(|| sp.find("txDef")).unwrap_or(sp.len())];
-    let b = &sp[sp.find("bodyPr")?..];
-    let b = &b[..b.find('>').unwrap_or(b.len())];
-    let v = &b[b.find("anchor=\"")? + 8..];
-    deckcraft_model::text::Anchor::from_xml(&v[..v.find('"')?])
-}
-
-/// A shape's text without an anchor of its own sits at the top, as the standard has it (or where
-/// the theme's shape defaults put it). The model's own default for shapes is the middle, so a
-/// top or bottom anchor is made explicit here and a middle one left unset (placeholders and text
-/// boxes keep inheriting).
+/// A shape's text without an anchor of its own sits at the top, as the standard has it and as
+/// PowerPoint draws it. The theme's shape defaults (`a:objectDefaults/a:spDef/a:bodyPr`, centred in
+/// Office's themes) are for shapes inserted later, not for the file's own shapes: PowerPoint for
+/// Mac draws `<a:bodyPr/>` at the top under an `spDef` with `anchor="ctr"`. The model's own default
+/// for shapes is the middle, so a top or bottom anchor is made explicit here and a middle one left
+/// unset (placeholders and text boxes keep inheriting).
 fn default_text_anchor(p: &mut Presentation) {
-    fn fix(shapes: &mut [deckcraft_model::Shape], a: deckcraft_model::text::Anchor) {
+    fn fix(shapes: &mut [deckcraft_model::Shape]) {
         walk_shapes_mut(shapes, &mut |s| {
             if s.ph.is_none()
                 && !s.text_box
@@ -806,25 +796,20 @@ fn default_text_anchor(p: &mut Presentation) {
                 && let Some(t) = &mut s.text
             {
                 // Middle is the model's own default for shapes, so it is kept as unset.
-                let got = t.body.anchor.unwrap_or(a);
+                let got = t.body.anchor.unwrap_or(deckcraft_model::text::Anchor::Top);
                 t.body.anchor = (got != deckcraft_model::text::Anchor::Middle).then_some(got);
             }
         });
     }
-    let top = deckcraft_model::text::Anchor::Top;
-    let anchors: Vec<_> = p.masters.iter().map(|m| (m.id, theme_shape_anchor(&m.theme).unwrap_or(top))).collect();
     for m in &mut p.masters {
-        let a = anchors.iter().find(|(id, _)| *id == m.id).map(|x| x.1).unwrap_or(top);
         let m = Arc::make_mut(m);
-        fix(&mut m.shapes, a);
+        fix(&mut m.shapes);
         for l in &mut m.layouts {
-            fix(&mut l.shapes, a);
+            fix(&mut l.shapes);
         }
     }
-    let per_slide: Vec<_> =
-        p.slides.iter().map(|s| p.master_for(s).and_then(|(m, _)| anchors.iter().find(|(id, _)| *id == m.id)).map(|x| x.1).unwrap_or(top)).collect();
-    for (s, a) in p.slides.iter_mut().zip(per_slide) {
-        fix(&mut Arc::make_mut(s).shapes, a);
+    for s in &mut p.slides {
+        fix(&mut Arc::make_mut(s).shapes);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/pptx/tests/anchor.rs b/crates/pptx/tests/anchor.rs
index 72af2436..18280e4a 100644
--- a/crates/pptx/tests/anchor.rs
+++ b/crates/pptx/tests/anchor.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //! Text anchoring of shapes without an `anchor` of their own: the model centres a shape's text,
-//! a file without one puts it at the top (or where the theme's shape defaults say).
+//! a file without one puts it at the top, whatever the theme's shape defaults say.
 
 use std::io::{Cursor, Read, Write};
 
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ fn shapes_keep_their_middle_anchor_and_files_without_one_anchor_at_the_top() {
     let a = anchors(&deckcraft_pptx::import(&bare).expect("import"));
     assert!(a.iter().all(|x| *x == Some(Anchor::Top)), "{a:?}");
 
-    // ...unless the theme's shape defaults centre them, as Office's themes do.
+    // Also when the theme's shape defaults centre new shapes, as Office's themes do: PowerPoint
+    // for Mac draws `<a:bodyPr/>` at the top under such an `spDef` (synthetic probe exported as PDF).
     let themed = rewrite(&bare, |n, x| {
         if n.starts_with("ppt/theme/") {
             x.replace(
@@ -69,6 +70,5 @@ fn shapes_keep_their_middle_anchor_and_files_without_one_anchor_at_the_top() {
         }
     });
     let a = anchors(&deckcraft_pptx::import(&themed).expect("import"));
-    assert!(a.iter().all(|x| x.is_none() || *x == Some(Anchor::Middle)), "{a:?}");
-    assert!(a.iter().filter(|x| x.is_none()).count() >= 3, "{a:?}");
+    assert!(a.iter().all(|x| *x == Some(Anchor::Top)), "{a:?}");
 }