Needle in a Needlestack

The answer to this puzzle is a word found in the SOWPODS word list. Once you've downloaded a copy of that file, you can create an array containing every entry with the following code:

// Node.js
const fs = require("fs")

words = fs.readFileSync("./sowpods.txt").toString().split("\n")

# Python
with open("sowpods.txt") as f:
	words = f.read().split("\n")

The following statements about the answer word are all true.

• If you remove the last three letters, the result is another word on the SOWPODS list.
• The word contains no double letters.
• The word matches the regular expression /^.*(.).*\1.*$/ (JS style) or r"^.*(.).*\1.*$" (Python-style) .
• The score for playing the word in Scrabble (not counting any blanks or special squares) is 10.
• The word does not end in a vowel.
• There is no consecutive block of three letters in the answer that is either in alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order. (Another way to say this if ASCII(char2) - ASCII(char1) is positive, ASCII(char3) - ASCII(char2) must be negative. DUST is allowed under this rule, but STUD isn't, as "STU" is in alphabetical order.)
• If the word is written in lowercase and the ASCII values of each character are concatenated together to form one very large number, that number mod 9 equals 6.
• If the word is written in lowercase and the ASCII values of each character are concatenated together to form one very large number, and that number were interpreted as a UPC code, the check digit would have to be 4.
• The word's first letter and last letter are different.

Back