In notation options, section “Note groupings”, there is an option to not use tied quarter notes for syncopes spanning the middle of the bar. I’ve noticed that this option doesn’t have an effect in the score I’m currently engraving, and I suspect it has to do with the fact that it’s not a 4/4 but an alla breve/cutc measure. Is this correct, and is there another option (besides force duration) to tell Dorico what I want to do?
It’s “well-known” that cut c meter has to be changed to a hidden 4/4 to behave “correctly”… The devs know about it 
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In Dorico terms, a “half-measure” is a rhythmic stress pattern larger than a beat. So 4/4 and 12/8 have a half-measure mark - they both have four beats in each measure where there is a stronger stress at the start of every half-measure - but 2/2 and 6/8 do not as they simply have two beats in each measure.
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Nevertheless, a syncopated rhythm in 2/2 is notated as a half note between two quarter rests… Maybe an exception to add to the implemented behavior of cut c. Or a long lasting workaround
I assume there was some reasoning for why in 2/2 Dorico will display a half note following a quarter note but it insists on 2 tied quarters following a quarter rest. What was that reasoning? Whatever it is, it does not apply to e.g. 2/4 meter, which will display a quarter note following an eighth note or rest on the downbeat.
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The difference is due to the fact that Dorico’s syncopation detection handles the short-long pattern differently when the short is a note and when it’s a rest.
I personally don’t beam and group 2/2 any differently than 4/4. Notation Options to treat 2/2 as 4/4 for beaming and grouping purposes under the Beam Grouping and Note Grouping headings would be useful for me anyway. Like Marc mentioned, I always put a hidden 4/4 in the second bar of any 2/2 passage, and then manually group and beam the first bar.
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Thank you for including, in 4.3, at the top of {Notation Options > Note Grouping} the somewhat esoteric definition of a “half-bar”. My misunderstanding above was due to not knowing this. I subsequently found it in the docs, but it’s great to have right in the dialog.