title: Select highest level td's in nested table structure with jQuery
body: <p>I am trying to select the highest level of <code>td</code>s in a nested table structure like this (inside the first level <code>td</code>s there are more tables with more <code>td</code>s that shouldn't be selected</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;table&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td&gt;        &lt;!-- this is what I want to select --&gt;
        &lt;table /&gt; &lt;!-- more td's inside that I don't want to select --&gt;
      &lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td&gt;        &lt;!-- this is what I want to select --&gt;
        &lt;table /&gt; &lt;!-- more td's inside that I don't want to select --&gt;
      &lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
  &lt;/table&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>To select the desired <code>td</code>s would be easy: <code>table &gt; tr &gt; td</code>. However there might be <code>table</code>s with <code>tbody</code> tags:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;table&gt;
    &lt;tbody&gt;
      &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;        &lt;!-- this is what I want to select --&gt;
          &lt;table /&gt; &lt;!-- more td's inside that I don't want to select --&gt;
        &lt;/td&gt;
      &lt;/tr&gt;
      &lt;tr&gt;
        &lt;td&gt;        &lt;!-- this is what I want to select --&gt;
          &lt;table /&gt; &lt;!-- more td's inside that I don't want to select --&gt;
        &lt;/td&gt;
      &lt;/tr&gt;
    &lt;/tbody&gt;
  &lt;/table&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>That itself would be easy as well: <code>table &gt; tbody &gt; tr &gt; td</code>. </p>
  
  <p>How can I find an easy expression that doesn't rely on the <code>&gt;</code> child selector and works universally? </p>
  
  <p>Something like <code>table tr &gt; td</code> (which obviously wouldn't work since it selects <code>td</code>s inside the nested table. Thanks!</p>