Um, you're using the wrong regex. My function returns ^[^pcd]*(?:(?:p(?!ig)|c(?!at)|d(?!og))[^pcd]*)*$ whereas you are using ^[^pcd]*(?:(?:p(?!ig)|c(?!at)|d(?!og)))*[^pcd]*$ The [^pcd]* got moved outside the (?:...) somehow. When I use the right regex, I get the right results.

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Jeff[japhy]Pinyan: Perl, regex, and perl hacker.
s++=END;++y(;-P)}y js++=;shajsj<++y(p-q)}?print:??;