The Word Out of Rhythm

Easy

A cipher clerk wrote down several code words of the same length in the array codes. Every word has a "rhythm": the list of steps between neighbouring letters, where a step is the alphabet position of the next letter minus that of the current one (a is 0, b is 1, …, z is 25). For example, "lop" has rhythm [3, 1] and "dca" has rhythm [-1, -2]. All words in the array share the same rhythm except exactly one. Find and return that word.

Example 1

codes=["bdf", "kmo", "bce", "rtv"] → 'bce'

"bdf", "kmo" and "rtv" all have steps [2, 2]. "bce" has steps [1, 2], so it is the odd one out.

Example 2

codes=["zy", "ba", "ab"] → 'ab'

"zy" and "ba" both step by -1, while "ab" steps by +1.

Example 3

codes=["mmm", "qqq", "aaa", "tuu", "ccc"] → 'tuu'

Constraints

3 ≤ len(codes) ≤ 100
All words have the same length, from 2 to 20
Words consist of lowercase English letters
Exactly one word has a rhythm different from the others

Have you seen this problem in a real interview?

Solved by0

Tried by0

Submissions0

Acceptance—

Topics

Array Hash Table String

Similar problems

One-Row Typing Easy Dinner for Two Easy Phrases with Synonyms Easy Word from a License Plate Easy Distinct Morse Signals Easy

Input

codes=["bdf", "kmo", "bce", "rtv"]

Expected

'bce'

Run checks the first 3 tests in your browser. Submit checks all 21 tests on the server, hidden ones included.