diff --git a/bin/dasht b/bin/dasht
index 6d987cb..427f17b 100755
--- a/bin/dasht
+++ b/bin/dasht
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # ### Examples
 #
 # `dasht`
-#   First 100 topics from each installed docset.
+#   Topics (A-Z) from each installed docset.
 #
 # `dasht` 'c - x'
 #   Search for "c - x" in all installed docsets.
diff --git a/bin/dasht-query-exec b/bin/dasht-query-exec
index 6db063f..92be180 100755
--- a/bin/dasht-query-exec
+++ b/bin/dasht-query-exec
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 # located inside a [Dash] docset at `/Contents/Resources/docSet.dsidx`, while
 # passing the optional *OPTIONS\_FOR\_SQLITE3* arguments down to sqlite3(1).
 #
+# If *PATTERN* is empty or solely consists of unescaped wildcard characters,
+# topics having distinct leading characters are returned from the *DATABASE*.
+#
 # ### Searching
 #
 # SQL LIKE wildcard characters in *PATTERN* can be escaped with a backslash.
@@ -74,18 +77,17 @@ pattern=$(echo "$pattern" | sed "s/'/&&/g")
 #   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #   along with Zeal. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
+searchIndex_topic=name
 searchIndex_query="
-  SELECT name,
-         type,
+  SELECT name AS name,
+         type AS type,
          path AS url
   FROM searchIndex
-  WHERE name LIKE '$pattern' ESCAPE '\\'
-  ORDER BY name COLLATE NOCASE
-  LIMIT 100;
 "
+ztoken_topic=ztokenname
 ztoken_query="
-  SELECT ztokenname                          AS name,
-         ztypename                           AS type,
+  SELECT ztokenname                                      AS name,
+         ztypename                                       AS type,
          zpath || ifnull('#' || nullif(zanchor, ''), '') AS url
   FROM ztoken
   JOIN ztokenmetainformation
@@ -94,9 +96,6 @@ ztoken_query="
     ON zfilepath.z_pk = ztokenmetainformation.zfile
   JOIN ztokentype
     ON ztokentype.z_pk = ztoken.ztokentype
-  WHERE ztokenname LIKE '$pattern' ESCAPE '\\'
-  ORDER BY ztokenname COLLATE NOCASE
-  LIMIT 100;
 "
 #                 _          __    ____ ____  _                     _
 #   ___ _ __   __| |   ___  / _|  / ___|  _ \| |       ___ ___   __| | ___
@@ -106,9 +105,31 @@ ztoken_query="
 #
 #\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
 
-if sqlite3 "$database" .tables | grep -F -q searchIndex
-then query=$searchIndex_query
-else query=$ztoken_query
+if sqlite3 "$database" .tables | grep -F -q searchIndex; then
+  topic=$searchIndex_topic
+  query=$searchIndex_query
+else
+  topic=$ztoken_topic
+  query=$ztoken_query
+fi
+
+if echo "$pattern" | tr -d '%_' | grep -q . ; then
+  # something particular was searched; fetch first 100 matching topics
+  where="WHERE $topic LIKE '$pattern' ESCAPE '\\'"
+  group=
+  limit='LIMIT 100'
+else
+  # nothing particular was searched; group topics by leading character
+  query=$(echo "$query" | awk '
+    # min() gets FIRST topic from each group; else we get the LAST one
+    $1 == "SELECT" && $3 == "AS" { $2 = "min(" $2 " COLLATE NOCASE)" }
+    { print }
+  ')
+  where=
+  group="GROUP BY substr($topic,1,1)"
+  limit=
 fi
+order="ORDER BY $topic COLLATE NOCASE"
+query="$query $where $group $order $limit ;"
 
 exec sqlite3 "$@" "$database" "$query"
diff --git a/bin/dasht-query-html b/bin/dasht-query-html
index e533f8c..5d391ab 100755
--- a/bin/dasht-query-html
+++ b/bin/dasht-query-html
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # ### Examples
 #
 # `dasht-query-html`
-#   First 100 topics from each installed docset.
+#   Topics (A-Z) from each installed docset.
 #
 # `dasht-query-html` 'c - x'
 #   Search for "c - x" in all installed docsets.
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ dasht-query-line "$@" | awk -v pattern="$1" '
     sub("[[:space:]]+$", "", pattern)         # strip trailing whitespace
     gsub("[[:space:]]+", ".*", pattern)       # treat whitespace as wildcards
     pattern = ignorecase(pattern)             # emulate IGNORECASE=1 for POSIX
+    if (pattern == "") pattern = "^."         # grouped by leading character
   }
   NR == 1      { print "<table>" }
   $2 == "="    { result[$1] = substr($0, index($0, $2) + length($2) + 1) }
diff --git a/bin/dasht-query-line b/bin/dasht-query-line
index 5b5a44a..c6175d2 100755
--- a/bin/dasht-query-line
+++ b/bin/dasht-query-line
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # ### Examples
 #
 # `dasht-query-line`
-#   First 100 topics from each installed docset.
+#   Topics (A-Z) from each installed docset.
 #
 # `dasht-query-line` 'c - x'
 #   Search for "c - x" in all installed docsets.
diff --git a/bin/dasht-server-http b/bin/dasht-server-http
index a3e7991..902c4be 100755
--- a/bin/dasht-server-http
+++ b/bin/dasht-server-http
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@
 # ### Examples
 #
 # printf 'GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n' | `dasht-server-http`
-#   Shows first 100 topics from all installed [Dash] docsets.
+#   Shows topics (A-Z) from each installed [Dash] docset.
 #
 # printf 'GET /?docsets=*DOCSETS* HTTP/1.1\r\n' | `dasht-server-http`
-#   Shows first 100 topics from installed [Dash] docsets matching *DOCSETS*.
+#   Shows topics (A-Z) from installed [Dash] docsets matching *DOCSETS*.
 #
 # printf 'GET /?query=*PATTERN* HTTP/1.1\r\n' | `dasht-server-http`
 #   Searches for *PATTERN* in all installed [Dash] docsets.
diff --git a/man/man1/dasht-query-exec.1 b/man/man1/dasht-query-exec.1
index eb1f125..5f14b93 100644
--- a/man/man1/dasht-query-exec.1
+++ b/man/man1/dasht-query-exec.1
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ Searches for \fIPATTERN\fP in \fIDATABASE\fP, which is an SQLite3 database file
 located inside a Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docset at \fB\fC/Contents/Resources/docSet.dsidx\fR, while
 passing the optional \fIOPTIONS_FOR_SQLITE3\fP arguments down to 
 .BR sqlite3 (1).
+.PP
+If \fIPATTERN\fP is empty or solely consists of unescaped wildcard characters,
+topics having distinct leading characters are returned from the \fIDATABASE\fP\&.
 .SS Searching
 .PP
 SQL LIKE wildcard characters in \fIPATTERN\fP can be escaped with a backslash.
diff --git a/man/man1/dasht-query-html.1 b/man/man1/dasht-query-html.1
index b65f8e2..c48fc85 100644
--- a/man/man1/dasht-query-html.1
+++ b/man/man1/dasht-query-html.1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ dasht\-query\-html \- searches Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docsets an
 .SS Examples
 .TP
 \fB\fCdasht\-query\-html\fR
-First 100 topics from each installed docset.
+Topics (A\-Z) from each installed docset.
 .TP
 \fB\fCdasht\-query\-html\fR 'c \- x'
 Search for "c \- x" in all installed docsets.
diff --git a/man/man1/dasht-query-line.1 b/man/man1/dasht-query-line.1
index c9c6ef6..3aa60b7 100644
--- a/man/man1/dasht-query-line.1
+++ b/man/man1/dasht-query-line.1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ dasht\-query\-line \- searches Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docsets an
 .SS Examples
 .TP
 \fB\fCdasht\-query\-line\fR
-First 100 topics from each installed docset.
+Topics (A\-Z) from each installed docset.
 .TP
 \fB\fCdasht\-query\-line\fR 'c \- x'
 Search for "c \- x" in all installed docsets.
diff --git a/man/man1/dasht-server-http.1 b/man/man1/dasht-server-http.1
index 8998ed3..f9107bf 100644
--- a/man/man1/dasht-server-http.1
+++ b/man/man1/dasht-server-http.1
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ dasht\-server\-http \- simple search engine that powers
 .SS Examples
 .TP
 printf 'GET / HTTP/1.1\[rs]r\[rs]n' | \fB\fCdasht\-server\-http\fR
-Shows first 100 topics from all installed Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docsets.
+Shows topics (A\-Z) from each installed Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docset.
 .TP
 printf 'GET /?docsets=\fIDOCSETS\fP HTTP/1.1\[rs]r\[rs]n' | \fB\fCdasht\-server\-http\fR
-Shows first 100 topics from installed Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docsets matching \fIDOCSETS\fP\&.
+Shows topics (A\-Z) from installed Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docsets matching \fIDOCSETS\fP\&.
 .TP
 printf 'GET /?query=\fIPATTERN\fP HTTP/1.1\[rs]r\[rs]n' | \fB\fCdasht\-server\-http\fR
 Searches for \fIPATTERN\fP in all installed Dash \[la]https://kapeli.com/dash\[ra] docsets.
diff --git a/man/man1/dasht.1 b/man/man1/dasht.1
index fc5b229..e60b861 100644
--- a/man/man1/dasht.1
+++ b/man/man1/dasht.1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ dasht \- API documentation in your terminal
 .SS Examples
 .TP
 \fB\fCdasht\fR
-First 100 topics from each installed docset.
+Topics (A\-Z) from each installed docset.
 .TP
 \fB\fCdasht\fR 'c \- x'
 Search for "c \- x" in all installed docsets.