Thanks for the occult info autark! Please correct me if i'm wrong but as far as i can tell saying no strict "refs" inside a tight loop only turns strict refs off for the duration of the loop.

Aside from this one exception employed for a well-tested condition (for a huge optimization):

if($in){
 foreach(@actions){ 
  unless($_ eq /one|/){ 
   if($in eq $_){ 
    no strict "refs"; &$_()}}}}
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the (now 400 line) script uses strict. Since i know how to play by the rules why not also start to break them, since it seems to pay off so well when done carefully?

UPDATE: I responded too quickly, as autark explained in the chatterbox, this is the perfect solution. I get to do what I want without breaking strict with:

if($in){ 
 foreach(@actions){
  unless($_ eq /one|/){
   if($in eq $_){
    do{\&{$_}}->()}}}}
[download]

Joy!