diff --git a/src/core/operators.pm b/src/core/operators.pm
index 7e02233..c2218a7 100644
--- a/src/core/operators.pm
+++ b/src/core/operators.pm
@@ -306,9 +306,19 @@ our multi sub item($item) {
 
 class Whatever { ... }
 
-# the magic one that handles stuff like
-# 'a' ... 'z' and 'z' ... 'a'
-our multi sub infix:<...>($lhs, $rhs) {
+our multi sub infix:<scmp>($lhs, $rhs) {
+    $lhs cmp $rhs;
+}
+
+our multi sub infix:<scmp>(Str $lhs, Str $rhs) {
+    $lhs.chars <=> $rhs.chars || $lhs cmp $rhs;
+}
+
+our multi sub infix:<scmp>($lhs, @rhs) {
+    $lhs scmp @rhs[0];
+}
+
+our multi sub infix:<...>($lhs is copy, $rhs) {
     if $rhs ~~ Whatever {
         my $i = $lhs;
         return gather {
@@ -321,35 +331,36 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>($lhs, $rhs) {
 
     gather {
         take $lhs;
-        if ($lhs cmp $rhs) == 1 {
+        if ($lhs scmp $rhs) == 1 {
             my $x = $lhs;
             # since my $a = 'a'; $a-- gives
             # "Decrement out of range" we can't easily
             # decrement over our target, which is why the
             # case of going backwards is slighly more complicated
             # than going forward
-            while (--$x cmp $rhs) == 1 {
+            while (--$x scmp $rhs) == 1 {
                 # need to make a fresh copy here because of RT #62178
                 my $y = $x;
                 take $y;
             }
-            take $x if ($x cmp $rhs) == 0;
-        } elsif ($lhs cmp $rhs) == -1 {
+            take $x if ($x scmp $rhs) == 0;
+        } elsif ($lhs scmp $rhs) == -1 {
             my $x = $lhs;
-            while (++$x cmp $rhs) <= 0 {
+            while (++$x scmp $rhs) <= 0 {
                 my $y = $x;
                 take $y;
             }
         }
-
         if $rhs ~~ Iterable {
-            for @($rhs) {
-                take $_;
-            }
-        }
+            # the first element has already been taken
+            # should be:
+            # take $_ for $rhs[1..*]; but this doesn't work yet
+            take $_ for $rhs[{1..$_-1}];
+       }
     }
 }
 
+
 # our multi sub infix:<...>($lhs, Code $rhs) {
 #     if $rhs.count != 1 {
 #         die "Series operator currently cannot handle blocks with count != 1";
@@ -368,24 +379,6 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>($lhs, $rhs) {
 #         }
 #     }
 # }
-#
-# our multi sub infix:<...>(@lhs, Whatever) {
-#     given @lhs.elems {
-#         when 2 {
-#             @lhs[0] ... { $_ + (@lhs[1] - @lhs[0]) };
-#         }
-#         when 3 {
-#             if @lhs[1] - @lhs[0] == @lhs[2] - @lhs[1] {
-#                 @lhs[0] ... { $_ + (@lhs[1] - @lhs[0]) };
-#             } elsif @lhs[1] / @lhs[0] == @lhs[2] / @lhs[1] {
-#                 @lhs[0] ... { $_ * (@lhs[1] / @lhs[0]) };
-#             } else {
-#                 fail "Unable to figure out pattern of series";
-#             }
-#         }
-#         default { fail "Unable to figure out pattern of series"; }
-#     }
-# }
 
 our multi sub infix:<...>(Code $lhs, $rhs) {
     my $limit;
@@ -407,17 +400,17 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>(Code $lhs, $rhs) {
 our multi sub infix:<...>(@lhs is copy, $rhs) {
     my sub succ-or-pred($lhs, $rhs) {
         if $rhs ~~ Whatever || $lhs cmp $rhs != 1 {
-            -> $x { $x.succ };
+            -> $x {$x.succ};
         } else {
-            -> $x { $x.pred };
+            -> $x {$x.pred};
         }
     }
 
     my sub succ-or-pred2($lhs0, $lhs1, $rhs) {
         if $lhs1 cmp $lhs0 == 0 {
-            $next = { $_ };
+            return  { $_ };
         } else {
-            $next = succ-or-pred($lhs1, $rhs);
+            return succ-or-pred($lhs1, $rhs);
         }
     }
 
@@ -436,7 +429,7 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>(@lhs is copy, $rhs) {
             when 2 {
                 my $diff = @lhs[1] - @lhs[0];
                 if $diff == 0 {
-                    $next = succ-or-pred2(@lhs[0], @lhs[1], $rhs)
+                    $next = succ-or-pred2(@lhs[0], @lhs[1], $rhs);
                 } else {
                     $next = { $_ + $diff };
                 }
@@ -487,6 +480,13 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>(@lhs is copy, $rhs) {
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        if $rhs ~~ Iterable {
+            # the first element has already been taken
+            # should be:
+            # take $_ for $rhs[1..*]; but this doesn't work yet
+            take $_ for $rhs[{1..$_-1}];
+       }
     }
 }