use warnings; use strict; print check("YLPP", "PEARLYGATES"), "\n"; print check("YLP", "PEARLYGATES"), "\n"; print check("EASYPEASY", "PEARLYGATES"), "\n"; sub check { my ($word, $target) = @_; foreach my $letter (split //, $word) { return "not ok" if ($target =~ s/$letter// == 0); } return "ok"; }