YES(?,O(n^1)) We are left with following problem, upon which TcT provides the certificate YES(?,O(n^1)). Strict Trs: { append(Cons(x, xs), ys) -> Cons(x, append(xs, ys)) , append(Nil(), ys) -> ys , goal(x, y) -> append(x, y) } Obligation: innermost runtime complexity Answer: YES(?,O(n^1)) The input was oriented with the instance of 'Small Polynomial Path Order (PS,1-bounded)' as induced by the safe mapping safe(append) = {2}, safe(Cons) = {1, 2}, safe(Nil) = {}, safe(goal) = {2} and precedence goal > append . Following symbols are considered recursive: {append} The recursion depth is 1. For your convenience, here are the satisfied ordering constraints: append(Cons(; x, xs); ys) > Cons(; x, append(xs; ys)) append(Nil(); ys) > ys goal(x; y) > append(x; y) Hurray, we answered YES(?,O(n^1))