snail.py

import random
import time

def get_snail_name():

    class Letters(object):

        def __init__(self):
            self._chars = list('nnaaiieeuh') + ['gh']

        def draw(self, n):

            def draw_one():
                c = random.choice(self._chars)
                self._chars.remove(c)
                return c

            return ''.join([draw_one() for i in range(n)])

    start = 's'
    middle = Letters().draw(random.randint(2, 8))
    end = random.choice(['l', 'le', 'il'])

    return (start + middle + end)

def find_spelling(s):

    start = time.time()
    tries = 1

    while get_snail_name() != s:
        tries += 1

    elapsed = time.time() - start
    print 'Found "%s" after %0.3f seconds and %d tries.' % (s, elapsed, tries)
    return (elapsed, tries)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    find_spelling('snail')
    find_spelling('snale')
    find_spelling('snaueghle')