Instrument cluster lights, '65 Valiant

Found the fuse puller and I CANNOT get that fuse out. I feel like I'm going to break something.
HOWEVER, while messing around under the dash, I noticed that the tach light was on. I tried turning the dimmer knob and I noticed that the light behind the speedo was on, too!
There's a sweet spot in the rheostat where it's brightest. Maybe I made a better connection while wiggling wires or moving the dimmer?
dash lights.jpg
tach lights.jpg