The code by ahunter is still the fastest: 
   chromatic "52" : 27 secs (25.76 usr  0.04 sys = 25.80 cpu)
NoGrooTwo+ahunter : 17 secs (16.72 usr  0.04 sys = 16.76 cpu)
          japhy 1 : 16 secs (13.84 usr  0.04 sys = 13.88 cpu)
          japhy 2 : 12 secs (11.71 usr  0.07 sys = 11.78 cpu)
          ahunter :  5 secs ( 4.65 usr  0.00 sys =  4.65 cpu)
 ahunter+turnstep :  3 secs ( 3.62 usr  0.03 sys =  3.65 cpu)

[download]

In reply to RE: How To Do This Better? by Anonymous Monk
in thread How To Do This Better? by buzzcutbuddha

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.