YES We show the termination of the TRS R: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) -- SCC decomposition. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(c(y)))) p2: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(y))) p3: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(y)) p4: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(y) p5: c#(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> c#(c(a(y,|0|()))) p6: c#(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> c#(a(y,|0|())) p7: c#(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c#(y) and R consists of: r1: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) r2: c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) r3: c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) The estimated dependency graph contains the following SCCs: {p1, p2, p3, p4, p5, p7} -- Reduction pair. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(c(y)))) p2: c#(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c#(y) p3: c#(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> c#(c(a(y,|0|()))) p4: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(y) p5: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(y)) p6: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(y))) and R consists of: r1: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) r2: c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) r3: c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) The set of usable rules consists of r1, r2, r3 Take the reduction pair: max/plus interpretations on natural numbers: c#_A(x1) = max{0, x1 - 70} c_A(x1) = x1 + 16 a_A(x1,x2) = max{x1 - 8, x2 + 20} |0|_A = 42 b_A(x1,x2) = max{x1 + 3, x2 + 40} The next rules are strictly ordered: p3 We remove them from the problem. -- SCC decomposition. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(c(y)))) p2: c#(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c#(y) p3: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(y) p4: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(y)) p5: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(y))) and R consists of: r1: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) r2: c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) r3: c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) The estimated dependency graph contains the following SCCs: {p1, p2, p3, p4, p5} -- Reduction pair. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(c(y)))) p2: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(y))) p3: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(y)) p4: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(y) p5: c#(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c#(y) and R consists of: r1: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) r2: c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) r3: c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) The set of usable rules consists of r1, r2, r3 Take the reduction pair: max/plus interpretations on natural numbers: c#_A(x1) = x1 c_A(x1) = max{9, x1 + 5} a_A(x1,x2) = max{15, x1 - 2, x2 + 5} |0|_A = 7 b_A(x1,x2) = max{x1 - 2, x2 + 13} The next rules are strictly ordered: p2, p3, p4, p5 We remove them from the problem. -- SCC decomposition. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(c(y)))) and R consists of: r1: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) r2: c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) r3: c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) The estimated dependency graph contains the following SCCs: {p1} -- Reduction pair. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: c#(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> c#(c(c(c(y)))) and R consists of: r1: c(c(c(a(x,y)))) -> b(c(c(c(c(y)))),x) r2: c(c(b(c(y),|0|()))) -> a(|0|(),c(c(a(y,|0|())))) r3: c(c(a(a(y,|0|()),x))) -> c(y) The set of usable rules consists of r1, r2, r3 Take the reduction pair: max/plus interpretations on natural numbers: c#_A(x1) = max{0, x1 - 5} c_A(x1) = max{6, x1 + 5} a_A(x1,x2) = max{8, x1, x2 + 7} b_A(x1,x2) = max{15, x1 + 2, x2 - 4} |0|_A = 1 The next rules are strictly ordered: p1 We remove them from the problem. Then no dependency pair remains.