YES We show the termination of the TRS R: f(f(a(),x),a()) -> f(f(x,f(a(),a())),a()) -- SCC decomposition. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: f#(f(a(),x),a()) -> f#(f(x,f(a(),a())),a()) p2: f#(f(a(),x),a()) -> f#(x,f(a(),a())) p3: f#(f(a(),x),a()) -> f#(a(),a()) and R consists of: r1: f(f(a(),x),a()) -> f(f(x,f(a(),a())),a()) The estimated dependency graph contains the following SCCs: {p1} -- Reduction pair. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: f#(f(a(),x),a()) -> f#(f(x,f(a(),a())),a()) and R consists of: r1: f(f(a(),x),a()) -> f(f(x,f(a(),a())),a()) The set of usable rules consists of (no rules) Take the reduction pair: max/plus interpretations on natural numbers: f#_A(x1,x2) = max{11, x1 + 9, x2} f_A(x1,x2) = max{1, x1 - 6, x2 - 5} a_A = 9 The next rules are strictly ordered: p1 We remove them from the problem. Then no dependency pair remains.