Is there any reason why something like this would not be a good idea? >>> a_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] >>> a, b, *c = a_list You could then do things like this: >>> lol = [[1, 2], [3, 4, 5, 6, 7], [8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]] >>> for a, b *c in lol: ... - Dave -- http://www.object-craft.com.au