Rhythmic notation question

I feel like I’m constantly bumping up against Dorico’s inner preferences about rhythmic notation. I’ve been all the way through the options available for this and can’t seem to find a preference that fixes this.

In the attached graphic, I’d like the half note and quarter note (tied to each other, in the second and third visible measures) to become a dotted half note. Is there a rule for that? If not, how do I simply override it?

I’m afraid I don’t think there’s a setting in Notation Options that will allow you to get this result out of the box. You’ll need to use Force Durations in this specific instance.

I wonder if inputting a 4/4 time signature at the start of bar 2 and hiding it might allow you to get what you want using the available notation options? As cutc is treated differently than 4/4.