my @keys = sort { $bdry{ $b->[0] }{ $b->[1] } <=> $bdry{ $a->[0] }{ $a->[1] } } map { my $k = $_; map { [$k, $_] } keys %{ $bdry{$k} } } keys %bdry; print "my greatest key-pair is: $bdry{$keys[0][0]}{$keys[0][1]}\n\n"; print "key-pair(@$_) is: $bdry{$_->[0]}{$_->[1]}\n" for @keys;