diff --git a/src/builtins/control.pir b/src/builtins/control.pir
index 30ba345..4a17f9c 100644
--- a/src/builtins/control.pir
+++ b/src/builtins/control.pir
@@ -224,16 +224,23 @@ src/builtins/control.pir - control flow related functions
     ex['type'] = .CONTROL_TAKE
     ex['severity'] = .EXCEPT_NORMAL
     ex['message'] = 'take without gather'
-
     $I0 = elements values
     if $I0 == 0 goto nil
     if $I0 > 1 goto many
-    values = values[0]
+	$P0 = values[0]
+    values = clone $P0
     goto done
   nil:
     values = '&Nil'()
     goto done
   many:
+    $I1 = 0
+  many_loop:
+    $P0 = values[$I1]
+	$P1 = clone $P0
+    values[$I1] = $P1
+	$I1 = $I1 + 1
+	if $I1 < $I0 goto many_loop
     values = '&infix:<,>'(values :flat)
   done:
     setattribute ex, 'payload', values
diff --git a/src/core/operators.pm b/src/core/operators.pm
index 7e02233..960227f 100644
--- a/src/core/operators.pm
+++ b/src/core/operators.pm
@@ -306,14 +306,24 @@ our multi sub item($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 {
             loop {
-                my $j = $i++;
+                my $j = $i.succ;
                 take $j;
             }
         }
@@ -321,35 +331,28 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>($lhs, $rhs) {
 
     gather {
         take $lhs;
-        if ($lhs cmp $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 {
-                # 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 {
-            my $x = $lhs;
-            while (++$x cmp $rhs) <= 0 {
-                my $y = $x;
-                take $y;
-            }
+
+        if $lhs scmp $rhs == 1 {
+            # here, we use '== 1' instead of '>= 0'
+            # because my $a = 'a'; $a-- gives
+            # "Decrement out of range"
+            take $lhs while --$lhs scmp $rhs == 1;
+            take $lhs if $lhs scmp $rhs == 0;
+        }
+        elsif $lhs scmp $rhs == -1 {
+            take $lhs while ++$lhs scmp $rhs <= 0;
         }
 
         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 $rhs.count != 1 {
 #         die "Series operator currently cannot handle blocks with count != 1";
@@ -368,24 +371,6 @@ our multi sub infix:<...>($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 +392,17 @@ 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 };
+            *.succ;
         } else {
-            -> $x { $x.pred };
+            *.pred;
         }
     }
 
     my sub succ-or-pred2($lhs0, $lhs1, $rhs) {
         if $lhs1 cmp $lhs0 == 0 {
-            $next = { $_ };
+            { $_ };
         } else {
-            $next = succ-or-pred($lhs1, $rhs);
+            succ-or-pred($lhs1, $rhs);
         }
     }
 
@@ -487,6 +472,13 @@ 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}];
+       }
     }
 }