The first token in "--:\n" is... a) varsym, because varsym always wins according to section 2.3: An ordinary comment begins with a sequence of two or more consecutive dashes (e.g. --) and extends to the following newline. The sequence of dashes must not form part of a legal lexeme. For example, "-->" or "|--" do not begin a comment, because both of these are legal lexemes; however "--foo" does start a comment. or b) comment, because the maximal munch rule says so (it matches the newline): comment -> dashes [any<symbol> {any}] newline varsym -> (symbol {symbol | :})<reservedop | dashes> GHC says comment. Hugs says varsym. What's the answer? -- Taral <taralx@gmail.com> "Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." -- Edsger Dijkstra