Excel BI - Excel Challenge 662

excel-challenges

excel-formulas

🔰 / Make the given pyramid for number of rows given in A2.

Published

March 24, 2026

Illustration for Excel BI - Excel Challenge 662

Challenge Description

🔰 / Make the given pyramid for number of rows given in A2. Example for 6 is shown.

Solutions

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

path = "Excel/662 Create a Pyramid.xlsx"
test6  = read_excel(path, range = "C2:N7", col_names = F) %>% as.matrix() %>% replace(., is.na(.), " ")

draw_pyramid <- function(stores) {
  M <- matrix(" ", nrow = stores, ncol = stores * 2)
  for (i in 1:stores) {
    M[i, ] <- strsplit(paste(c(rep(" ", stores - i), "/", rep("/\\", i - 1), "\\", rep(" ", stores - i)), collapse = ""), "")[[1]]
  }
  return(M)
}

a = draw_pyramid(6)

all(a == test6)
#> [1] TRUE

Logic: Read the workbook ranges needed for the challenge; Iterate through the sequence until the rule is satisfied.
Strengths: The algorithm is explicit about the sequence rule, so the control flow is easy to validate against the prompt.
Areas for Improvement: The solution assumes the workbook layout and selected ranges remain stable, so any structural change in the sheet would require small adjustments.
Gem: The non-obvious part is the local rule inside the loop, because that rule determines the whole output.

import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

path = "662 Create a Pyramid.xlsx"
test6 = pd.read_excel(path,  usecols="C:N", skiprows=1, nrows=6, header=None).fillna(" ").values

def draw_pyramid(stores):
    M = np.full((stores, stores * 2), " ", dtype=str)
    for i in range(1, stores + 1):
        row = [" "] * (stores - i) + ["/"] + ["/\\"] * (i - 1) + ["\\"] + [" "] * (stores - i)
        M[i - 1, :] = list("".join(row))
    return M

a = draw_pyramid(6)

print(np.array_equal(a, test6))
# True

The Python version keeps the algorithm explicit, which helps when the challenge depends on a greedy or iterative rule.

Difficulty Level

Easy / Medium

The business rule is clear, though the workbook still needs a few transformation steps to reach the expected output.