That actually has problems with large numbers (> native integer ?) Once it gets over 64 bits on my machine it converts to scientific notation... which throws off the conversion.

Never mind. Broken

Here's my whack at it - 232 strokes

perl -E'@x=split//,"4335443554366887798866555766";$_=<>;chop;print;whi
+le($_-4){split//,"99aabb87780";$x=0;$x+=hex(pop)*!!$&+($1&&$x[$1]+7)+
+($2>1?$x[$2+18]+$x[$3]:$x[$2.$3])while s/(.??)(.?)(.)$//;say" is $x."
+;print$_=$x}say" is magic."'

__END__
999999999999999999999999999999999
999999999999999999999999999999999 is 231.
231 is 19.
19 is 8.
8 is 5.
5 is 4.
4 is magic.

[download]

In reply to Re^3: Code Golf: Four is magic by thundergnat
in thread Code Golf: Four is magic by deMize

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