in reply to get a certain number of words from a line

my ($front, $back) = /((?:\S+\s+){11})((?:\S+\s+){5})/;

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ought to work. I don't have perl5 where I am to test it.
We're not really tightening our belts, it just feels that way because we're getting fatter.

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom