permute( @x_chars ) »{ $^a eq $^b ?? $^a :: ''}« permute( @y_chars )
Permutation is the wrong thing here, sorry. It's just:
( @x_chars »xx« @y_chars.elems ) # or was that .size? »{ $^a eq $^b ?? $^a :: ''}« ( @y_chars xx @x_chars.elems ) # note: no hypering
e.g. <a b c> and <x y> give <a a b b c c> »{...}« <x y x y x y> and finally a list of six empty strings.
And look Mami, all without junctions! Lots of french ... ehm, freedom quotes involved, though :) -- TSa (Thomas Sandlaß)