diff --git a/bedstead.c b/bedstead.c
index bbae63d..37a3120 100644
--- a/bedstead.c
+++ b/bedstead.c
@@ -2723,6 +2723,24 @@ static struct alt_sub_override {
 	{ "ugrave", { "ugrave.roundjoined", "ugrave.sc" } },
 };
 
+/*
+ * Define all the Character Variant features using X macros.  These
+ * are then used to create 'cvXX' features and grouped into 'ssXX'
+ * features.
+ */
+#define CV12 VAR2("comma", ".left")
+#define CV14 VAR2("period", ".large")
+#define CV26 VAR2("colon", ".leftsmall")
+#define CV27 VAR2("semicolon", ".left")
+#define CV31 VAR2("question", ".open")
+#define CV42 VAR2("J", ".narrow")
+#define CV44 VAR2("L", ".narrow")
+#define CV61 VAR2("ugrave",".roundjoined")
+#define CV74 VAR2("j", ".serif")
+#define CV79 VAR2("ocircumflex", ".large")
+#define CV84 VAR2("t", ".small")
+#define CV96 VAR2("ccedilla", ".angular")
+
 static struct gsub_feature {
 	char const *tag;
 #define SCRIPT_DFLT 0x01
@@ -2742,24 +2760,15 @@ static struct gsub_feature {
 	{ "rtlm", SCRIPT_ALL, .suffix = ".rtlm" },
 #define SINGLESUB(in, out) "<Substitution in='" in "' out='" out "'/>\n"
 #define SUFFIXSUB(base, suffix) SINGLESUB(base, base suffix)
+#define VAR2 SUFFIXSUB
 	{ "ss01", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "SAA5051",
-	  .xml = "<SingleSubst>\n" SUFFIXSUB("comma", ".left")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("period", ".large") SUFFIXSUB("colon", ".leftsmall")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("semicolon", ".left") SUFFIXSUB("question", ".open")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("D", ".serif") SUFFIXSUB("J", ".narrow")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("L", ".narrow") SUFFIXSUB("j", ".serif")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("t", ".small") "</SingleSubst>\n" },
+	  .xml = "<SingleSubst>\n" CV12 CV14 CV26 CV27 CV31
+	  SUFFIXSUB("D", ".serif") CV42 CV44 CV74 CV84 "</SingleSubst>\n" },
 	{ "ss02", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "SAA5052",
-	  .xml = "<SingleSubst>\n" SUFFIXSUB("comma", ".left")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("period", ".large") SUFFIXSUB("colon", ".leftsmall")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("semicolon", ".left") SUFFIXSUB("question", ".open")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("D", ".narrow") SUFFIXSUB("J", ".narrow")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("L", ".narrow") SUFFIXSUB("j", ".serif")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("t", ".small") "</SingleSubst>\n" },
+	  .xml = "<SingleSubst>\n" CV12 CV14 CV26 CV27 CV31
+	  SUFFIXSUB("D", ".narrow") CV42 CV44 CV74 CV84 "</SingleSubst>\n" },
 	{ "ss04", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "SAA5054",
-	  .xml = "<SingleSubst>\n" SUFFIXSUB("ugrave", ".roundjoined")
-	  SUFFIXSUB("ocircumflex", ".large") SUFFIXSUB("ccedilla", ".angular")
-	  "</SingleSubst>\n" },
+	  .xml = "<SingleSubst>\n" CV61 CV79 CV96 "</SingleSubst>\n" },
 #define ALT1(g) "<Alternate glyph='" g "'/>"
 #define ALT2(a, b) ALT1(a) ALT1(b)
 #define ALT3(a, b, c) ALT1(a) ALT2(b, c)
@@ -2771,37 +2780,27 @@ static struct gsub_feature {
 	       ALTSET(b, ALT3(a, b, c))		\
 	       ALTSET(c, ALT3(a, b, c)))
 #define CV2(base, a) CROSSALT2(base, base a)
+#undef VAR2
+#define VAR2 CV2
 #define CV3(base, a, b) CROSSALT3(base, base a, base b)
 	/*
 	 * Where possible, Character Variant features have numbers
 	 * that are 32 less than the ASCII code of the base character.
 	 */
-	{ "cv12", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "comma variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("comma", ".left") },
-	{ "cv14", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "full-stop variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("period", ".large") },
-	{ "cv26", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "colon variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("colon", ".leftsmall") },
-	{ "cv27", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "semicolon variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("semicolon", ".left") },
-	{ "cv31", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "question-mark variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("question", ".open") },
+	{ "cv12", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "comma variants", .xml = CV12 },
+	{ "cv14", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "full-stop variants", .xml = CV14 },
+	{ "cv26", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "colon variants", .xml = CV26 },
+	{ "cv27", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "semicolon variants", .xml = CV27 },
+	{ "cv31", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "question-mark variants", .xml = CV31 },
 	{ "cv38", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "capital-D variants",
 	  .xml = CV3("D", ".serif", ".narrow") },
-	{ "cv42", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "capital-J variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("J", ".narrow") },
-	{ "cv44", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "capital-L variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("L", ".narrow") },
-	{ "cv61", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-u-grave variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("ugrave",".roundjoined") },
-	{ "cv74", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-j variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("j", ".serif") },
-	{ "cv79", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-o variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("ocircumflex", ".large") },
-	{ "cv84", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-t variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("t", ".small") },
-	{ "cv96", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "cedilla variants",
-	  .xml = CV2("ccedilla", ".angular") },
+	{ "cv42", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "capital-J variants", .xml = CV42 },
+	{ "cv44", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "capital-L variants", .xml = CV44 },
+	{ "cv61", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-u-grave variants", .xml = CV61 },
+	{ "cv74", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-j variants", .xml = CV74 },
+	{ "cv79", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-o variants", .xml = CV79 },
+	{ "cv84", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "small-t variants", .xml = CV84 },
+	{ "cv96", SCRIPT_ALL, .name = "cedilla variants", .xml = CV96 },
 	{ "ss14", SCRIPT_ALL,  ".sep4", .name = "4-cell separated graphics" },
 	{ "ss16", SCRIPT_ALL,  ".sep6", .name = "6-cell separated graphics" },
 };