I am learning, I am learning... I missed the subtle difference in the documentation:
$('a, b') and $('a', 'b') !!! The way to filter my list is using a function.. like so: ('ol.ol1 > li').filter( function() { return $('li.correctchosen', this).length != 0 } ) // Filters the first set down to those that contain a "correct chosen list element somewhere deep inside the dom subtree of 'this' element. Any short technique appreciated. Overview of the HTML: <ol class="ol1"><li> ... html here... <ul><li class="correctchosen"></ li></ul></li>