in reply to interpolation with filetest operators
Looks like eval "-$perm \$file" will do the trick.
Update: Since testing shows that it works, I made it a statement, not a question.
Update 2: $TIMTOWTDI = eval "-$perm \"$file\""
perl -pe '"I lo*`+$^X$\"$]!$/"=~m%(.*)%s;$_=$1;y^`+*^e v^#$&V"+@( NO CARRIER'
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