Novolak-diazonaphthoquinone resists are the principal pattern transfer materials of the semiconductor industry, essential tools in building the devices that are making computers possible. In spite of this, there was never a clear understanding of the way Novolak-diazoquinone resists work. In an earlier review [A. Reiser ct al., Angew Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 35, 2428 (1996)] we had presented experiments and ideas that went a long way toward an interpretation of their functional mechanism, yet we had failed in one important respect: we had not recognized the pivotal role of phenolic strings ill these systems. Since then we have gained a better understanding of the dissolution process;, and the new insights have illuminated and connected seemingly distant phenomena. A coherent and self-consistent picture of dissolution inhibition has emerged. We would like to present it in this article.