the music has the following tempo/timesig scheme
start 4/4, q=110 (bps=110)
change to 12/8, q=q. (bps goes to 165)
poco rit (bps drops to 124)
a tempo. (bps returns to 110 bps). 
I wouldâve expected it to return to 165. It is returning to the earlier 4/4 setting; shouldnât it return to the 12/8 setting ?
using elements 2.2.0.1108.
Thx,
âA tempoâ doesnât yet do that correctly. Itâs a known limitation and will be addressed in the future.
When it encounters âa tempoâ, Dorico returns to the last immediate tempo, not to the last tempo equation.
doesnât a tempo mean return to the tempo prior to the rit ?
Yes, thatâs how I always learned it.
Arg, sorry. I was relying on my memory (never a good idea) and conflated it with this issue: Tempo automation not restoring tempo after rit. - #3 by dan_kreider - Dorico - Steinberg Forums
If the tempo tool in Play mode isnât touched, âa tempoâ works correctly. My mistake.
hmm, then I donât think it works correctly. In my OP example, it did not return to the correct (prior to the rit) tempo.
It shouldâve returned to the 12/8 (bps=165) setting, not the 4/4, 110 bps setting.
Shouldnât you notate Tempo I if you want to go back to the first tempo after having used another tempo in 12/8? Even though you used the q=q. In a written score I would have written Tempo I
The problem is that in general âa tempoâ returns to whatever tempo the composer thought it should return to. And sometimes, the performer has to guess which one was intended when itâs not musically obvious.
Sometimes it doesnât âreturn to a tempoâ at all - itâs just an careless notation for âIN tempo.â
Andre is right !
I tried Tempo I and got what I expected. I guess Dorico forces you to use the terms properly 
Thanks.
Well, what is âproperlyâ in this case?
I learned that âa tempoâ means âthe tempo we had before a rit. (for example)â. So why does dorico use the tempo that was not only befor the rit. but also before the last tempo change that came with the change in meter?
Going back to the 4/4 tempo while still being in 12/8 just makes no sense from a musical point of view.
Estigy, does this not answer your question?
@pianoleo
Yes, it does, but I object to it 
A tempo equation (especially when changing from simple meter to compound meter) results in a tempo change.
4/4 with q=60 means 60 bpm
6/8 with q=q means 90 bpm
I do not see why an âa tempoâ after a ârit.â then should set back the tempo to 60 bpm (while still in 6/8 meter) in ANY case.
I think there is either a typo or a math error there.
If I saw âq=qâ between 4/4 and 6/8 in a score I would wonder (1) if itâs a typo and/or (2) if whoever wrote it really understood time signatures. Of course âe=eâ is clear and straightforward to understand, if you do want the literal meaning of âq=qâ.
Iâm with Rob on this one. Seeing â6/8â along with âq=qâ would send me into a spiral of math anxiety, regardless of the fact that itâs a tautology.
Dan, I tied myself in a knot with that only a couple of days ago, with a Scarlatti sonata that alternated sections in 3/8 (1 beat in a bar) and cut time.
It was âobviousâ what the tempo relationship was supposed to be when playing it, but it took me a while to figure out that it was mathematically an 8th in 3/8 = a quarter in cut time.
I got hung up trying to work out what the equivalent of the dotted quarter beat in 3/8 was!
Rob, you are perfectly right, I got it wrong
What I meant was e=e, which basically means that beat-subdivision stays the same tempo, but the real beats do change.
So 4/4 with q=90 will become q.=60 after 6/8 with e=e. (I hope this time itâs right.)
And if there is a short ârit.â 60 bars into the 6/8 section, I would certainly not expect it tor return to q=90 after an âa tempoâ, which is what the OP experienced.
yes, that is the issue.
I also had thought âa tempoâ was the correct term, but dorico required âTempo Iâ to get what I expected the play back to be (how I wouldâve played it).
I really donât know who is right.
thx,