Omid - Challenge 314

data-challenges
advanced-exercises
🔰 Question Result cat c | ca | cat excel e | ex | exc | exce | excel power p | po | pow | powe | power
Published

March 24, 2026

Illustration for Omid - Challenge 314

Challenge Description

🔰 Question Result cat c | ca | cat excel e | ex | exc | exce | excel power p | po | pow | powe | power

Solutions

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

path = "files/300-399/314/CH-314 Word Pyramid Split.xlsx"
input = read_excel(path, range = "B1:B7")
test  = read_excel(path, range = "C1:C7")

results <- input %>%
  mutate(Result = map(Question, ~ str_c(str_sub(.x, 1, 1:nchar(.x)), collapse = " | ")))

all.equal(results$Result, test$Result, check.attributes = F)
# [1] TRUE

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook ranges needed for the challenge

    • Builds the intermediate columns that drive the final result

    • Parses the text patterns directly instead of relying on manual cleanup

  • Strengths:

    • The R solution stays close to the workbook rule and keeps the transformation compact.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • The code assumes the sheet structure and source ranges remain stable.

  • Gem:

    • The strongest part of the solution is choosing the right intermediate representation before shaping the final output.
import pandas as pd

path = "300-399/314/CH-314 Word Pyramid Split.xlsx"
input = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="B", nrows=7)
test = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="C", nrows=7)

input["Result"] = [
    " | ".join([q[:i] for i in range(1, len(q)+1)])
    for q in input.iloc[:, 0]
]

print(input["Result"].equals(test['Result']))  # True

  • Logic:

    • Reads the workbook ranges needed for the challenge

    • Applies the rule iteratively until the output stabilizes

  • Strengths:

    • The Python version follows the same rule in a direct dataframe-oriented implementation.

  • Areas for Improvement:

    • The code assumes the workbook layout remains stable, so any sheet redesign would require small adjustments.

  • Gem:

    • The implementation stays close to the original workbook rule instead of adding unnecessary abstraction.

Difficulty Level

This task is moderate:

  • The core logic is clear, but the correct transformation pattern is not obvious from the raw input.

  • The challenge combines multiple reshaping, grouping, or parsing steps.