my $usefulans; foreach ( @$qablock ) { if ( $$_[ 0 ] eq $answer ) { $usefulans = [ @$_ ]; } } print "\t\t----> @$usefulans\n"; #### my $usefulans = grep { $$_[ 0 ] eq $answer } @$qablock; print "\t\t----> @$usefulans\n";