it is annoying

Nice kata about programming, makes you think through the language. A breath of fresh air in between all those gotcha katas.

As I did this kata for the first time (in C++) I was so frustrated that I set NONE satisfaction level. Now (in Kotlin), with a little more experience, I reclassified this kata to a "VERY satisfied". Once again I confirmd to myself that it is usually about me, and not about kata.

In Kotlin random test failed with this:
expected:<[ JZZEBQBIYSPKSCIJOCV]> but was:<[J]>
My code seems to be doing the right thing of taking the first letter.
It happened only once, i.e. random, please check the tests.

Actually, I find the "gap" variation to be much easier. At least it looks this way to me now, having been stuck with this "step" kata.
UPDATE: After having it solved soon after, the kata doesn't seem difficult anymore. Just look ahead.

Thank you, @Unnamed! Your solutions are always of the top educational quality!

The next morning I came up with a frustratingly simple solution that makes you wonder, man, are u stupid?

I first used an obscure data structure and then learned a very helpful scope function trick (in Kotlin). Thank you for such an educational kata!

It was a matter of honor for me to solve this kata, and I did it! If I can, everyone can.

Tests are a bit too strickt for a level 5 kata. I was surprised that solving it took so long.

There is nothing easy about this kata. You need an efficient permutations algorithm, and with luck, it'll not time out.

So I've completed the kata following the description literally. This kata still doesn't feel right to me.

Looks like there is an error in test cases for Kotlin - the wrong answer is expected.
input was "apurplepigandagreendonkeyflewakiteinthemiddleofthenightandendedupsunburnt"
expected:<[a, purple, pig, and, a, green, donkey, flew, a, kite, in, them, id, d, l, e, of, the, night, and, ended, up, sunburnt]>
but was:<[a, purple, pig, and, a, green, donkey, flew, a, kite, in, the, middle, of, the, night, and, ended, up, sunburnt]>

Thanks for for such a pandepic kata! There are so many ways it can be solved - I learned a lot.

You got me on this one! 😀🤣😁