The asterisk '*' matches any sequence of elements, not just one element. The wildcard '*1*2*' would then correspond to a tuple with a 1 preceding a 2 in any positions. The wc '1*2' would correspond to a starting 1 and an ending 2 with anything in between. The wc *12* would correspond to a 1 adjacent to a 2 with the pair in any position. Possibilities like '*a*a*b*' and '*a*a*a*' of any length are also allowed. If n is the dimension, then any n-tuple wc is just a point. My apologies for the confusion.
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