# the most reasonable thing for this strange beast, IMHO
sub mksref { 
    @_ == 1 ? 
      do { my $x=$_[0]; \$x } :
      "@_"; # users can play with (a localized) $"
}

sub mkhref {
    my %x;
    @x{@_}=();
    \%x;
}

sub mkcref {
    my @x = @_;
    sub { @x }; # a closure
}