Dataford
Interview QuestionsInterview GuidesExperiencesCoaching
New
Pricing
Get started
Dataford
Popular roles
Software EngineerData AnalystData ScientistData EngineerBusiness AnalystAI EngineerMachine Learning EngineerProduct Manager
Browse
Browse All RolesEvery role hub, from analyst to MLBrowse All CompaniesCompany-specific interview loopsAll Interview GuidesThe full guide library
Top questions by role
Software EngineerData AnalystData ScientistData EngineerBusiness AnalystAI EngineerMachine Learning EngineerProduct Manager
Top questions by skill
SQLPythonStatisticsMachine LearningA/B TestingSystem DesignGenerative AIProduct SenseMetricsBehavioral
Browse all questions →Try a mock interview
ExperiencesCoaching
New
Practice
Mock InterviewsTimed interview simulations with feedbackSuccess PathYour 6-week structured planModulesCurated lessons by topicWebinarsTalks from ex-Big Tech data leadsPlaygroundA free-form scratch editor
Learn
BlogInterview strategy and career adviceTech Job Market ReportHiring trends across data and AI rolesFor UniversitiesDataford for career centersAbout DatafordWho we are and how we build
Pricing
Get started
Ransom Note Letters Problem
00:00
5 left

Ransom Note Letters Problem

HardPython

Problem

A CME Globex monitoring tool must determine whether an operational note can be assembled from letters appearing in a collection of magazine titles. Each title may be selected at most once, and all normalized letters from a selected title are available. Return the smallest number of titles needed and their zero-based indices.

Normalize both titles and the note by keeping only English letters a-z and converting uppercase letters to lowercase. Letter order does not matter. If multiple minimum-size selections exist, return the lexicographically smallest list of indices. If the note cannot be formed, return [-1, []].

Formal Specification

Implement min_titles_for_note(titles, note), where titles is a list of strings and note is a string. Return a two-element list [count, indices], where count is the minimum number of selected titles and indices is the corresponding sorted index list. For an empty normalized note, return [0, []].

Constraints

  • 1 <= len(titles) <= 20
  • 0 <= len(note) <= 20,000
  • Each title contains at most 1,000 characters
  • Titles and notes contain printable ASCII characters
  • Only letters a-z contribute after normalization
  • A solution may require all titles

Function Signature

def min_titles_for_note(titles, note):
Interviewer

Your question is Ransom Note Letters Problem. Start with the requirements in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.

You need to log in / sign up to run or submit.
Code
Sign up free to run your codeLog inLn 2
Run your code to see test output here.