diff --git a/controller/place.js b/controller/place.js
index 29acfe8b..a4996a11 100644
--- a/controller/place.js
+++ b/controller/place.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function setup( backend ){
       };
     });
 
-    logger.debug( '[ES req]', JSON.stringify(query) );
+    logger.debug( '[ES req]', query );
 
     service.mget( backend, query, function( err, docs ) {
       console.log('err:' + err);
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ function setup( backend ){
       else {
         res.data = docs;
       }
-      logger.debug('[ES response]', JSON.stringify(docs));
+      logger.debug('[ES response]', docs);
 
       next();
     });
diff --git a/controller/search.js b/controller/search.js
index 7949c8ad..e2a8acff 100644
--- a/controller/search.js
+++ b/controller/search.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ function setup( backend, query ){
       cmd.type = req.clean.layers;
     }
 
-    logger.debug( '[ES req]', JSON.stringify(cmd) );
+    logger.debug( '[ES req]', cmd );
 
     // query backend
     service.search( backend, cmd, function( err, docs, meta ){
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ function setup( backend, query ){
         res.data = docs;
         res.meta = meta;
       }
-      logger.debug('[ES response]', JSON.stringify(docs));
+      logger.debug('[ES response]', docs);
       next();
     });
 
diff --git a/middleware/sendJSON.js b/middleware/sendJSON.js
index 94353c6c..be2e56b0 100644
--- a/middleware/sendJSON.js
+++ b/middleware/sendJSON.js
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
-var check = require('check-types');
+var check = require('check-types'),
+    es = require('elasticsearch'),
+    exceptions = require('elasticsearch-exceptions/lib/exceptions/SupportedExceptions');
+
+// create a list of regular expressions to match against.
+// note: list created when the server starts up; for performance reasons.
+var exceptionRegexList = exceptions.map( function( exceptionName ){
+  return new RegExp( '^' + exceptionName );
+});
 
 function sendJSONResponse(req, res, next) {
 
@@ -8,10 +16,11 @@ function sendJSONResponse(req, res, next) {
   }
 
   // default status
-  var statusCode = 200;
+  var statusCode = 200; // 200 OK
 
   // vary status code whenever an error was reported
   var geocoding = res.body.geocoding;
+
   if( check.array( geocoding.errors ) && geocoding.errors.length ){
 
     // default status for errors is 400 Bad Request
@@ -19,18 +28,33 @@ function sendJSONResponse(req, res, next) {
 
     // iterate over all reported errors
     geocoding.errors.forEach( function( err ){
+
       // custom status codes for instances of the Error() object.
       if( err instanceof Error ){
-        // we can extract the error type from the constructor name
-        switch( err.constructor.name ){
-          // elasticsearch errors
-          // see: https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-js/blob/master/src/lib/errors.js
-          case 'RequestTimeout': statusCode = 408; break; // 408 Request Timeout
-          case 'NoConnections': statusCode = 502; break; // 502 Bad Gateway
-          case 'ConnectionFault': statusCode = 502; break; // 502 Bad Gateway
-          case 'Serialization': statusCode = 500; break; // 500 Internal Server Error
-          case 'Generic': statusCode = 500; break; // 500 Internal Server Error
-          default: statusCode = 500; // 500 Internal Server Error
+        /*
+          elasticsearch errors
+          see: https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-js/blob/master/src/lib/errors.js
+
+          408 Request Timeout
+          500 Internal Server Error
+          502 Bad Gateway
+        */
+        if( err instanceof es.errors.RequestTimeout ){ statusCode = Math.max( statusCode, 408 ); }
+        else if( err instanceof es.errors.NoConnections ){ statusCode = Math.max( statusCode, 502 ); }
+        else if( err instanceof es.errors.ConnectionFault ){ statusCode = Math.max( statusCode, 502 ); }
+        else { statusCode = Math.max( statusCode, 500 ); }
+
+      /*
+        some elasticsearch errors are only returned as strings (not instances of Error).
+        in this case we (unfortunately) need to match the exception at position 0 inside the string.
+      */
+      } else if( check.string( err ) ){
+        for( var i=0; i<exceptionRegexList.length; i++ ){
+          // check error string against a list of known elasticsearch exceptions
+          if( err.match( exceptionRegexList[i] ) ){
+            statusCode = Math.max( statusCode, 500 );
+            break; // break on first match
+          }
         }
       }
     });
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f70cb57b..26ba7808 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     "check-types": "^6.0.0",
     "cluster2": "git://github.com/missinglink/cluster2.git#node_zero_twelve",
     "elasticsearch": "^11.0.0",
+    "elasticsearch-exceptions": "0.0.4",
     "express": "^4.8.8",
     "express-http-proxy": "^0.6.0",
     "extend": "3.0.0",
diff --git a/query/search.js b/query/search.js
index 77fcb3f5..5689d9ec 100644
--- a/query/search.js
+++ b/query/search.js
@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@ var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query'),
     textParser = require('./text_parser'),
     check = require('check-types'),
     geolib = require('geolib');
+var placeTypes = require('../helper/placeTypes');
+
+// region_a is also an admin field. addressit tries to detect
+// region_a, in which case we use a match query specifically for it.
+// but address it doesn't know about all of them so it helps to search
+// against this with the other admin parts as a fallback
+var adminFields = placeTypes.concat(['region_a']);
 
 //------------------------------
 // general-purpose search query
@@ -25,15 +32,12 @@ query.score( peliasQuery.view.address('street') );
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.address('postcode') );
 
 // admin components
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('country') );
+// country_a and region_a are left as matches here because the text-analyzer
+// can sometimes detect them, in which case a query more specific than a
+// multi_match is appropriate.
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('country_a') );
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('region') );
 query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('region_a') );
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('county') );
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('borough') );
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('localadmin') );
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('locality') );
-query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin('neighbourhood') );
+query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin_multi_match(adminFields), 'peliasAdmin' );
 
 // non-scoring hard filters
 query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_circle );
diff --git a/query/search_defaults.js b/query/search_defaults.js
index 281d25ae..0ffdd79f 100644
--- a/query/search_defaults.js
+++ b/query/search_defaults.js
@@ -52,23 +52,23 @@ module.exports = _.merge({}, peliasQuery.defaults, {
 
   'admin:country_a:analyzer': 'standard',
   'admin:country_a:field': 'parent.country_a',
-  'admin:country_a:boost': 5,
+  'admin:country_a:boost': 1,
 
   'admin:country:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
   'admin:country:field': 'parent.country',
-  'admin:country:boost': 4,
+  'admin:country:boost': 1,
 
   'admin:region:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
   'admin:region:field': 'parent.region',
-  'admin:region:boost': 3,
+  'admin:region:boost': 1,
 
   'admin:region_a:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
   'admin:region_a:field': 'parent.region_a',
-  'admin:region_a:boost': 3,
+  'admin:region_a:boost': 1,
 
   'admin:county:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
   'admin:county:field': 'parent.county',
-  'admin:county:boost': 2,
+  'admin:county:boost': 1,
 
   'admin:localadmin:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
   'admin:localadmin:field': 'parent.localadmin',
diff --git a/test/ciao_test_data.js b/test/ciao_test_data.js
index 70b329f6..2ccee53c 100644
--- a/test/ciao_test_data.js
+++ b/test/ciao_test_data.js
@@ -54,5 +54,5 @@ actions.push( function( done ){
 
 // perform all actions in series
 async.series( actions, function( err, resp ){
-  console.log('test data inported');
+  console.log('test data imported');
 });
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js
index dfd64e34..ea85f716 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js
@@ -99,14 +99,6 @@ module.exports = {
                 'analyzer': vs['address:postcode:analyzer']
               }
             }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.country': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:country:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:country:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
           }, {
             'match': {
               'parent.country_a': {
@@ -115,14 +107,6 @@ module.exports = {
                 'analyzer': vs['admin:country_a:analyzer']
               }
             }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.region': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:region:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:region:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
           }, {
             'match': {
               'parent.region_a': {
@@ -132,44 +116,19 @@ module.exports = {
               }
             }
           }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.county': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:county:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:county:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.borough': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:borough:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:borough:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.localadmin': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:localadmin:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:localadmin:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.locality': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:locality:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:locality:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.neighbourhood': {
+            'multi_match': {
+                'fields': [
+                  'parent.country^1',
+                  'parent.region^1',
+                  'parent.county^1',
+                  'parent.localadmin^1',
+                  'parent.locality^1',
+                  'parent.borough^1',
+                  'parent.neighbourhood^1',
+                  'parent.region_a^1'
+                ],
                 'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:neighbourhood:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:neighbourhood:analyzer']
-              }
+                'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin'
             }
           }]
         }
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js
index 746899b7..a6cf47e5 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js
@@ -75,69 +75,28 @@ module.exports = {
                 'weight': 2
               }]
             }
-          },{
-            'match': {
-              'parent.country': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:country:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:country:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.region': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:region:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:region:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
           }, {
             'match': {
               'parent.region_a': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:region_a:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:region_a:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.county': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:county:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:county:analyzer']
+                'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+                'boost': 1,
+                'query': 'new york'
               }
             }
           }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.borough': {
+            'multi_match': {
+                'fields': [
+                  'parent.country^1',
+                  'parent.region^1',
+                  'parent.county^1',
+                  'parent.localadmin^1',
+                  'parent.locality^1',
+                  'parent.borough^1',
+                  'parent.neighbourhood^1',
+                  'parent.region_a^1'
+                ],
                 'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:borough:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:borough:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.localadmin': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:localadmin:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:localadmin:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.locality': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:locality:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:locality:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.neighbourhood': {
-                'query': 'new york',
-                'boost': vs['admin:neighbourhood:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:neighbourhood:analyzer']
-              }
+                'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin'
             }
           }]
         }
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js
index 0a8b199d..195358c7 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js
@@ -91,22 +91,6 @@ module.exports = {
                 'analyzer': vs['address:street:analyzer']
               }
             }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.country': {
-                'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:country:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:country:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.region': {
-                'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:region:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:region:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
           }, {
             'match': {
               'parent.region_a': {
@@ -116,44 +100,19 @@ module.exports = {
               }
             }
           }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.county': {
-                'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:county:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:county:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.borough': {
-                'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:borough:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:borough:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.localadmin': {
-                'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:localadmin:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:localadmin:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.locality': {
-                'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:locality:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:locality:analyzer']
-              }
-            }
-          }, {
-            'match': {
-              'parent.neighbourhood': {
+            'multi_match': {
+                'fields': [
+                  'parent.country^1',
+                  'parent.region^1',
+                  'parent.county^1',
+                  'parent.localadmin^1',
+                  'parent.locality^1',
+                  'parent.borough^1',
+                  'parent.neighbourhood^1',
+                  'parent.region_a^1'
+                ],
                 'query': 'manhattan',
-                'boost': vs['admin:neighbourhood:boost'],
-                'analyzer': vs['admin:neighbourhood:analyzer']
-              }
+                'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin'
             }
           }]
         }
diff --git a/test/unit/middleware/sendJSON.js b/test/unit/middleware/sendJSON.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d02138ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/middleware/sendJSON.js
@@ -0,0 +1,236 @@
+var es = require('elasticsearch'),
+    middleware = require('../../../middleware/sendJSON');
+
+module.exports.tests = {};
+
+module.exports.tests.invalid = function(test, common) {
+  test('invalid $res', function(t) {
+    var res;
+
+    middleware(null, res, function () {
+      t.pass('next() called.');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('invalid $res.body', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: 1 };
+
+    middleware(null, res, function () {
+      t.pass('next() called.');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('invalid $res.body.geocoding', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: 1 } };
+
+    middleware(null, res, function () {
+      t.pass('next() called.');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.default_status = function(test, common) {
+  test('no errors', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {} } };
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 200, '200 OK' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+
+  test('empty errors array', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {}, errors: [] } };
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 200, '200 OK' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.default_error_status = function(test, common) {
+  test('default error code', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ 'an error' ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 400, '400 Bad Request' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.generic_server_error = function(test, common) {
+  test('generic server error', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ new Error('an error') ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 500, 'Internal Server Error' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.generic_elasticsearch_error = function(test, common) {
+  test('generic elasticsearch error', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ new es.errors.Generic('an error') ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 500, 'Internal Server Error' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.request_timeout = function(test, common) {
+  test('request timeout', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ new es.errors.RequestTimeout('an error') ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 408, 'Request Timeout' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.no_connections = function(test, common) {
+  test('no connections', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ new es.errors.NoConnections('an error') ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 502, 'Bad Gateway' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.connection_fault = function(test, common) {
+  test('connection fault', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ new es.errors.ConnectionFault('an error') ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 502, 'Bad Gateway' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.serialization = function(test, common) {
+  test('serialization', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ new es.errors.Serialization('an error') ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 500, 'Internal Server Error' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.search_phase_execution_exception = function(test, common) {
+  test('search phase execution exception', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ 'SearchPhaseExecutionException[ foo ]' ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 500, 'Internal Server Error' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.unknown_exception = function(test, common) {
+  test('unknown exception', function(t) {
+    var res = { body: { geocoding: {
+      errors: [ 'MadeUpExceptionName[ foo ]' ]
+    }}};
+
+    res.status = function( code ){
+      return { json: function( body ){
+        t.equal( code, 400, '400 Bad Request' );
+        t.deepEqual( body, res.body, 'body set' );
+        t.end();
+      }};
+    };
+
+    middleware(null, res);
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
+
+  function test(name, testFunction) {
+    return tape('[middleware] sendJSON: ' + name, testFunction);
+  }
+
+  for( var testCase in module.exports.tests ){
+    module.exports.tests[testCase](test, common);
+  }
+};
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index 1a6f7a90..828d99b5 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ var tests = [
   require('./middleware/localNamingConventions'),
   require('./middleware/dedupe'),
   require('./middleware/parseBBox'),
+  require('./middleware/sendJSON'),
   require('./middleware/normalizeParentIds'),
   require('./query/autocomplete'),
   require('./query/autocomplete_defaults'),