Crispo - Excel Challenge 31 2025

excel-challenges
weekly-exercises
Easy Sunday Excel Challenge
Published

August 3, 2025

Illustration for Crispo - Excel Challenge 31 2025

Challenge Description

Easy Sunday Excel Challenge

⭐ Problem Solution Item 1 6,0,0,6,7 Item 2 3,3,1,0,0,0,1

Solutions

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

path = "files/2025-08-03/Challenge 48.xlsx"
input = read_excel(path, range = "A2:H5")
test  = read_excel(path, range = "J1:K4")

result = input %>%
  unite("combined", -c(1), sep = "") %>%
  mutate(combined = str_replace_all(combined, "^0+|0+$", "")) %>%
  mutate(combined = str_replace_all(combined, "(?<=.)(?=.)", ","))

names(result) = c("item", "combined")
names(test) = c("item", "combined")

all.equal(result, test) 
# > [1] TRUE

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook range needed for the challenge

    • Builds the intermediate helper columns that drive the final answer

    • Uses direct text-pattern extraction instead of manual cleanup

  • Strengths:

    • The R solution stays compact and mirrors the workbook logic closely.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • The code assumes the workbook layout and named ranges remain stable.

  • Gem:

    • The best part of the solution is choosing a tidy intermediate shape before producing the final answer.
import pandas as pd

path = "files/2025-08-03/Challenge 48.xlsx"
input = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="A:H", skiprows=1, nrows=4)
test  = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="J:K", nrows=3)

result = input.iloc[:, [0]].copy()
result['combined'] = input.iloc[:, 1:8].astype(str).agg(''.join, axis=1)\
    .str.replace(r'^0+|0+$', '', regex=True)\
    .apply(lambda x: ','.join(x) if pd.notnull(x) else x)
result.columns = ['item', 'combined']
test.columns = ['item', 'combined']

print(result.equals(test)) # True

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook range needed for the challenge

  • Strengths:

    • The Python version keeps the same rule in a direct pandas-oriented workflow.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • As with the R version, any workbook layout change would require small adjustments.

  • Gem:

    • The implementation stays close to the stated challenge instead of adding unnecessary complexity.

Difficulty Level

This task is moderate:

  • It combines familiar Excel-style logic with at least one non-trivial reshape, grouping, or parsing step.

  • The answer depends on getting the output layout exactly right.