<In a _programming_ contest? Surely you jest... (or rather, don't waste <your hypothetical money)... < <Although, if I'm allowed to use _any_ processor, including one I've <designed myself, then things might get mildly more interesting... Oh, I could do that. My spin would be a PDP-8 with hardware of my own making. At one time I had static ram card in an 8e with hacked cpu timing (1uS cycle without trying hard). Then again the list of CPUs I have programmed on is long enough to know which ones to pick for what. Allison