note jeroenes Nice solution. There is room for improvement, though. No need for return, use that for filtering out empty items: <code> sub c {($a,$c)=@_;@c=@$c;grep$_,map{$a>$_? &{sub{$a-=$_*($b=int($a/$_));"$b x $_"}}:""} reverse @c} </code> Char-neutral, but leaving the grep out gains 7 chars. <p> You don't need the parens after the int, and leave out the spaces around the reverse. Gains you 4 char: <code> sub c{($a,$c)=@_;@c=@$c;grep$_,map{$a>$_? &{sub{$a-=$_*($b=int$a/$_);"$b x $_"}}:""}reverse@c} </code> <p>Jeroen<br> <i>"We are not alone"(FZ)</i> 87681 87713