// We want to retain only the last-put value for any given key, before sorting.
          // This could be improved, but orderEntriesByValue is rather rarely used anyway.
          localAlternatingKeysAndValues = lastEntryForEachKey(localAlternatingKeysAndValues, size);
          if (localAlternatingKeysAndValues.length < alternatingKeysAndValues.length) {
            localSize = localAlternatingKeysAndValues.length >>> 1;
          }
        }