#!/usr/bin/env python def read_input(): with open('input.txt', 'r') as f: for line in f: yield line.strip() def compare(a, b): if len(a) != len(b): return None change = None for i in range(len(a)): if a[i] != b[i]: if change is None: change = i else: return None return a[:change]+a[change+1:] boxes = [] result = None for box in read_input(): for b in boxes: result = compare(box, b) if result: break if result: break boxes.append(box) print(result)