sS starFormat(S pat, O... args) {
  int n = l(pat), iArg = 0, iChar = 0;
  new StringBuilder buf;
  while true {
    int jChar = smartIndexOf(pat, iChar, '*');
    buf.append(substring(pat, iChar, jChar));
    
    if (jChar >= n) break;
    buf.append(str(get(args, iArg++)));
    iChar = jChar+1;
  }
  
  ret str(buf);
}

Began life as a copy of #1026690