diff --git a/src/lib/validator.ts b/src/lib/validator.ts
index ce3dd3f..4b7ac2a 100644
Binary files a/src/lib/validator.ts and b/src/lib/validator.ts differ
diff --git a/tests/levels.test.ts b/tests/levels.test.ts
index ae6ab9a..72ed5b4 100644
--- a/tests/levels.test.ts
+++ b/tests/levels.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import initSqlJs, { type Database } from 'sql.js';
 import { levels } from '@/data/levels';
 import { seedDatabase } from '@/lib/seed';
 import { runReadOnlyQuery, assertReadOnlyQuery } from '@/lib/sqlRunner';
-import { compareResults, solutionRequiresOrder } from '@/lib/validator';
+import { compareResults, extractOrderKeyIndices, solutionRequiresOrder } from '@/lib/validator';
 import type { Epoch, QueryResult } from '@/types';
 
 let db: Database;
@@ -52,6 +52,30 @@ describe.each(levels)('level $id — $title', (level) => {
       return; // seed scaffold doesn't even parse — that's fine
     }
     const orderMatters = level.orderMatters ?? solutionRequiresOrder(level.solutionQuery);
-    expect(compareResults(seedResult, expected, orderMatters)).not.toBeNull();
+    const orderKeys = orderMatters
+      ? extractOrderKeyIndices(level.solutionQuery, expected.columns)
+      : null;
+    expect(compareResults(seedResult, expected, orderMatters, orderKeys)).not.toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
+describe('order-only ties accept any tie order (level 20 regression)', () => {
+  it('accepts a correct query whose tied rows come out in a different order', () => {
+    const level = levels.find((l) => l.id === 20)!;
+    const userQuery = `SELECT
+  customer_name,
+  count(distinct account_id) as account_count
+  FROM customers c
+  JOIN accounts a ON c.customer_id = a.customer_id
+ GROUP BY customer_name
+HAVING account_count > 1
+ ORDER BY account_count desc`;
+    const expected = runReadOnlyQuery(db, level.solutionQuery);
+    const user = runReadOnlyQuery(db, userQuery);
+    const orderMatters = level.orderMatters ?? solutionRequiresOrder(level.solutionQuery);
+    const orderKeys = extractOrderKeyIndices(level.solutionQuery, expected.columns);
+    expect(orderMatters).toBe(true);
+    expect(orderKeys).toEqual([1]);
+    expect(compareResults(user, expected, orderMatters, orderKeys)).toBeNull();
   });
 });
diff --git a/tests/validator.test.ts b/tests/validator.test.ts
index b5ebeca..ffc536a 100644
--- a/tests/validator.test.ts
+++ b/tests/validator.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { compareResults, solutionRequiresOrder, valuesEqual } from '@/lib/validator';
+import {
+  compareResults,
+  extractOrderKeyIndices,
+  solutionRequiresOrder,
+  valuesEqual,
+} from '@/lib/validator';
 import type { QueryResult } from '@/types';
 
 const result = (columns: string[], values: unknown[][]): QueryResult => ({ columns, values });
@@ -75,6 +80,59 @@ describe('compareResults', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('compareResults with ORDER BY tie groups', () => {
+  // ORDER BY cnt DESC: 'Ann'/'Bob' tie on cnt, 'Cy' does not.
+  const expected = result(['name', 'cnt'], [['Bob', 2], ['Ann', 2], ['Cy', 1]]);
+
+  it('accepts any order among rows tied on the ORDER BY keys', () => {
+    const user = result(['name', 'cnt'], [['Ann', 2], ['Bob', 2], ['Cy', 1]]);
+    expect(compareResults(user, expected, true)).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(compareResults(user, expected, true, [1])).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('rejects rows placed outside their tie group (wrong ORDER BY)', () => {
+    const user = result(['name', 'cnt'], [['Cy', 1], ['Ann', 2], ['Bob', 2]]);
+    expect(compareResults(user, expected, true, [1])).toContain('ORDER BY');
+  });
+
+  it('rejects wrong values within a tie group', () => {
+    const user = result(['name', 'cnt'], [['Bob', 2], ['Zed', 2], ['Cy', 1]]);
+    expect(compareResults(user, expected, true, [1])).not.toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
+describe('extractOrderKeyIndices', () => {
+  const columns = ['customer_name', 'account_count'];
+
+  it('maps plain and qualified terms (with ASC/DESC) to column indices', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractOrderKeyIndices('SELECT ... ORDER BY account_count DESC', columns)
+    ).toEqual([1]);
+    expect(
+      extractOrderKeyIndices('SELECT ... ORDER BY c.customer_name, account_count ASC', columns)
+    ).toEqual([0, 1]);
+  });
+
+  it('supports positional terms and ignores a trailing LIMIT', () => {
+    expect(extractOrderKeyIndices('SELECT ... ORDER BY 2 DESC LIMIT 5', columns)).toEqual([1]);
+  });
+
+  it('ignores ORDER BY inside parentheses', () => {
+    expect(
+      extractOrderKeyIndices(
+        'SELECT RANK() OVER (ORDER BY balance) AS r FROM t ORDER BY account_count',
+        columns
+      )
+    ).toEqual([1]);
+  });
+
+  it('returns null when a term cannot be resolved to a column', () => {
+    expect(extractOrderKeyIndices('SELECT ... ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC', columns)).toBeNull();
+    expect(extractOrderKeyIndices('SELECT ... ORDER BY 3', columns)).toBeNull();
+    expect(extractOrderKeyIndices('SELECT a FROM t', columns)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
 describe('solutionRequiresOrder', () => {
   it('detects a top-level ORDER BY', () => {
     expect(solutionRequiresOrder('SELECT a FROM t ORDER BY a')).toBe(true);