The actual question is why

return wantarry ? @a : $a[0];
[download]

isn't the same as

my @a;
if(wantarray) {
    @a = &$ref;
} else {
    $a[0] = &$ref;
}
... do something ...
return @a;
[download]

Try doing

return (wantarray ? @a : $a[0]);
[download]

That should work. The issue is how return works with wantarray.

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