diff --git a/assets/css/frontend/pages/submit.css b/assets/css/frontend/pages/submit.css
index 9a7d4df1..fd816f49 100644
--- a/assets/css/frontend/pages/submit.css
+++ b/assets/css/frontend/pages/submit.css
@@ -71,10 +71,6 @@
   border: none;
 }
 
-.aksrt-submit-editor-wrap textarea.wp-editor-area {
-  opacity: 1;
-}
-
 .aksrt-submit-editor-wrap .mce-toolbar-grp {
   background: var(--surface-1, #fff);
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--color-line, #eceff4);
diff --git a/assets/js/front-submit.js b/assets/js/front-submit.js
index 44678fca..ae62eeed 100644
--- a/assets/js/front-submit.js
+++ b/assets/js/front-submit.js
@@ -100,7 +100,6 @@
       if (!this.form) {
         return;
       }
-      this.hydrateEditor();
       this.bindDirty();
       this.bindAutoHeight();
       this.bindSubmitButtons();
@@ -114,59 +113,6 @@
       this.loadFeaturedFromDom();
     },
 
-    hydrateEditor: function () {
-      var snapshot = document.getElementById('aksrt-initial-post-content');
-      var textarea = qs('#post_content') || qs('[name="post_content"]');
-      var initialContent = snapshot ? snapshot.value : textarea ? textarea.value : '';
-      if (!initialContent) {
-        return;
-      }
-
-      var fallbackToTextEditor = function () {
-        if (window.switchEditors && typeof window.switchEditors.go === 'function') {
-          window.switchEditors.go('post_content', 'html');
-        }
-        if (textarea) {
-          textarea.value = initialContent;
-          textarea.style.opacity = '1';
-          textarea.style.display = 'block';
-        }
-      };
-
-      var attempts = 0;
-      var restore = function () {
-        var editor = window.tinymce && window.tinymce.get('post_content');
-        if (!editor) {
-          attempts += 1;
-          if (attempts < 20) {
-            setTimeout(restore, 250);
-          } else {
-            fallbackToTextEditor();
-          }
-          return;
-        }
-
-        var hydrate = function () {
-          var current = editor.getContent({ format: 'raw' });
-          if (!current || !current.trim()) {
-            editor.setContent(initialContent);
-            editor.save();
-          }
-          if (!editor.getContent({ format: 'raw' }).trim()) {
-            fallbackToTextEditor();
-          }
-        };
-
-        if (editor.initialized) {
-          hydrate();
-        } else {
-          editor.on('init', hydrate);
-        }
-      };
-
-      restore();
-    },
-
     bindDirty: function () {
       var self = this;
       this.form.addEventListener('input', function () {
diff --git a/src/Core/ScriptsPart1b.php b/src/Core/ScriptsPart1b.php
index b85252af..c11930e3 100644
--- a/src/Core/ScriptsPart1b.php
+++ b/src/Core/ScriptsPart1b.php
@@ -16,15 +16,11 @@ trait ScriptsPart1b {
 		$runtime_uri = $base_uri . '/assets';
 		$fa5_uri    = $base_uri . '/assets/fontawesome5';
 
-		// The legacy frontend runtime is the single public dependency stack.
-		wp_deregister_script('jquery');
-		wp_register_script(
-			'jquery',
-			$runtime_uri . '/js/runtime/libs/jquery.min.js',
-			[],
-			'1.9.1',
-			false
-		);
+		// Keep the WordPress handle but make its modern core build the only runtime.
+		$wp_scripts = wp_scripts();
+		if (isset($wp_scripts->registered['jquery'])) {
+			$wp_scripts->registered['jquery']->deps = ['jquery-core'];
+		}
 		wp_enqueue_script('jquery');
 
         wp_enqueue_script(
diff --git a/templates/parts/submit/editor-main.php b/templates/parts/submit/editor-main.php
index a3a170df..4fcd347d 100644
--- a/templates/parts/submit/editor-main.php
+++ b/templates/parts/submit/editor-main.php
@@ -42,12 +42,6 @@ $is_can_new = !empty($ctx['is_can_new']);
 		<?php else : ?>
 			<div class="aksrt-submit-editor-wrap">
 				<?php
-				$initial_content = (string) $ctx['current_content'];
-				if ($initial_content !== '') :
-					?>
-					<textarea id="aksrt-initial-post-content" hidden aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"><?php echo esc_textarea($initial_content); ?></textarea>
-					<?php
-				endif;
 				$toolbar1 = 'formatselect,bold,italic,bullist,numlist,alignleft,aligncenter,alignright,link,blockquote,code,fullscreen';
 				$plugins  = 'paste,link,lists,fullscreen,wordpress,wplink,charmap';
 				$editor_settings = [
@@ -56,7 +50,7 @@ $is_can_new = !empty($ctx['is_can_new']);
 					'editor_height'  => wp_is_mobile() ? 460 : 470,
 					'media_buttons'  => false,
 					'default_editor' => 'tinymce',
-					'quicktags'      => true,
+					'quicktags'      => false,
 					'teeny'          => false,
 					'tinymce'        => [
 						'toolbar1'    => $toolbar1,
@@ -65,7 +59,7 @@ $is_can_new = !empty($ctx['is_can_new']);
 						'placeholder' => (string) ($settings['content_placeholder'] ?? ''),
 					],
 				];
-				wp_editor($initial_content, 'post_content', $editor_settings);
+				wp_editor((string) $ctx['current_content'], 'post_content', $editor_settings);
 				?>
 			</div>
 
diff --git a/tests/widget-system/front-submit-editor-contract.test.cjs b/tests/widget-system/front-submit-editor-contract.test.cjs
index 3da60f4c..8fa27c96 100644
--- a/tests/widget-system/front-submit-editor-contract.test.cjs
+++ b/tests/widget-system/front-submit-editor-contract.test.cjs
@@ -21,19 +21,16 @@ test('published post content reaches the front submit editor unchanged', () => {
   const editor = read('templates/parts/submit/editor-main.php');
 
   assert.match(context, /\$current_content\s*=\s*\$edit_post\s*\?\s*\$edit_post->post_content\s*:\s*'';/);
-  assert.match(editor, /\$initial_content\s*=\s*\(string\) \$ctx\['current_content'\]/);
-  assert.match(editor, /wp_editor\(\$initial_content, 'post_content', \$editor_settings\);/);
+  assert.match(editor, /wp_editor\(\(string\) \$ctx\['current_content'\], 'post_content', \$editor_settings\);/);
 });
 
-test('front submit restores published content when TinyMCE initializes empty', () => {
-  const editor = read('templates/parts/submit/editor-main.php');
-  const runtime = read('assets/js/front-submit.js');
-  const styles = read('assets/css/frontend/pages/submit.css');
+test('front submit uses the WordPress registered jQuery runtime', () => {
+  const source = read('src/Core/ScriptsPart1b.php');
 
-  assert.match(editor, /'quicktags'\s*=>\s*true/);
-  assert.match(editor, /id="aksrt-initial-post-content"/);
-  assert.match(runtime, /hydrateEditor:\s*function/);
-  assert.match(runtime, /editor\.setContent\(initialContent\)/);
-  assert.match(runtime, /switchEditors\.go\('post_content', 'html'\)/);
-  assert.match(styles, /textarea\.wp-editor-area\s*\{[^}]*opacity:\s*1/s);
+  assert.match(source, /wp_enqueue_script\('jquery'\);/);
+  assert.match(source, /registered\['jquery'\]->deps\s*=\s*\['jquery-core'\]/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(source, /wp_deregister_script\('jquery'\)/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(source, /wp_register_script\(\s*'jquery'/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(source, /jquery-migrate/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(source, /runtime\/libs\/jquery\.min\.js|['"]1\.9\.1['"]/);
 });