YES We show the termination of the TRS R: f(a(),f(x,a())) -> f(f(x,f(f(a(),a()),a())),a()) -- SCC decomposition. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: f#(a(),f(x,a())) -> f#(f(x,f(f(a(),a()),a())),a()) p2: f#(a(),f(x,a())) -> f#(x,f(f(a(),a()),a())) p3: f#(a(),f(x,a())) -> f#(f(a(),a()),a()) p4: f#(a(),f(x,a())) -> f#(a(),a()) and R consists of: r1: f(a(),f(x,a())) -> f(f(x,f(f(a(),a()),a())),a()) The estimated dependency graph contains the following SCCs: {p2} -- Reduction pair. Consider the dependency pair problem (P, R), where P consists of p1: f#(a(),f(x,a())) -> f#(x,f(f(a(),a()),a())) and R consists of: r1: f(a(),f(x,a())) -> f(f(x,f(f(a(),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{x1, x2 + 4} a_A = 6 f_A(x1,x2) = max{1, x1 - 3, x2 - 11} The next rules are strictly ordered: p1 We remove them from the problem. Then no dependency pair remains.