WHY? can't figure it out! an I'm not a novice! CMYK and new swatches working, but not the spectrum picker..
We could use some details, like your OS and version of ID, and maybe a screen shot or two, along with a description of what you are doing to access the color picker. Screen shots can be embedded in a post using the camert icon on the web page like this:
Many strange behaviors are the result of corrupt prefs. See Replace Your Preferences
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