puzzle.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

from re import sub
from string import ascii_lowercase
from code import interact
from collections import defaultdict
from random import choice, shuffle
from itertools import groupby

VOWELS = list('aeiou')
CONSONANTS = list(sub('[aeiou]', '', ascii_lowercase))
WORD_FILE = "/usr/share/dict/words"
WORD_HASH = {}
WORD_LIST = []
WORD_TREE = {}

def load_words():
    with open(WORD_FILE) as words_file:
        for word in words_file.xreadlines():
            parsed_word = word.strip().lower()
            WORD_LIST.append(parsed_word)
            WORD_HASH[parsed_word] = 1
            w_len = len(parsed_word)
            if w_len not in WORD_TREE:
                WORD_TREE[w_len] = [parsed_word]
            else:
                WORD_TREE[w_len].append(parsed_word)

def _shuffle_word(word):
    letters = list(word)
    new_word = []
    for l in letters:
        if l in CONSONANTS:
            CONSONANTS.remove(l)
            nl = choice(CONSONANTS)
            new_word.append(nl)
            CONSONANTS.append(l)
        elif l in VOWELS:
            VOWELS.remove(l)
            nl = choice(VOWELS)
            new_word.append(nl)
            VOWELS.append(l)
    new_word = ''.join(new_word)
    while new_word in WORD_HASH:
        new_word = _shuffle_word(word)
    return new_word

def generate_puzzle(difficulty=3):
    if difficulty == -1: # unsolvable
        word = choice(WORD_TREE[choice(range(5, 10))])
        word = _shuffle_word(word)
    elif difficulty in WORD_TREE:
        word = choice(WORD_TREE[difficulty])
    else:
        return None
    s_word = list(word)
    shuffle(s_word)
    s_word = ''.join(s_word)
    while WORD_HASH.get(s_word):
        s_word = list(word)
        shuffle(s_word)
        s_word = ''.join(s_word)
    return word, s_word

def check_answer(answer, puzzle):
    answer_sorted = sorted(answer)
    puzzle_sorted = sorted(puzzle)
    if answer_sorted != puzzle_sorted:
        return False
    if answer not in WORD_HASH:
        return False
    return True
  
if __name__ == "__main__":
    load_words()
    orig, puzzle = generate_puzzle(-1)
    print orig
    print puzzle
    answer = raw_input()
    print check_answer(answer, puzzle)