a = ['a', 'b', x] b = sorted(a) What does x need to be to always be last on an ascending sort no matter what 'a' and 'b' are.... within reason... I am expecting 'a' and 'b' will be not longer than 10 char's long.... I tried making x = 'zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz' and believe it or not, this appears FIRST on the sort!!!