#!/usr/bin/python import re with open('04a.txt') as f: text = f.read().strip().replace('\n', 'Z') TOP = r'M[^Z]M.{139}A.{139}S[^Z]S' LEFT = r'M[^Z]S.{139}A.{139}M[^Z]S' BOTTOM = r'S[^Z]S.{139}A.{139}M[^Z]M' RIGHT = r'S[^Z]M.{139}A.{139}S[^Z]M' T = re.compile(f'(?={TOP})') L = re.compile(f'(?={LEFT})') B = re.compile(f'(?={BOTTOM})') R = re.compile(f'(?={RIGHT})') T_ = len(T.findall(text)) L_ = len(L.findall(text)) B_ = len(B.findall(text)) R_ = len(R.findall(text)) print(f'TOP {T_}') print(f'LEFT {L_}') print(f'BOTTOM {B_}') print(f'RIGHT {R_}') print(f'TOTAL {T_ + L_ + B_ + R_}')