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Q6. Define a function shuffle that takes a list with an even number of elements (cards) and creates a new list that interleaves the elements of the first half with the elements of the second half:

def card(n):
    """Return the playing card type for a positive n <= 13."""
    assert type(n) == int and n > 0 and n <= 13, "Bad card n"
    specials = {1: 'A', 11: 'J', 12: 'Q', 13: 'K'}
    return specials.get(n, str(n))

def shuffle(cards):
    """Return a shuffled list that interleaves the two halves of cards.

    >>> suits = ['♡', '♢', '♤', '♧']
    >>> cards = [card(n) + suit for n in range(1,14) for suit in suits]
    >>> cards[:12]
    ['A♡', 'A♢', 'A♤', 'A♧', '2♡', '2♢', '2♤', '2♧', '3♡', '3♢', '3♤', '3♧']
    >>> cards[26:30]
    ['7♤', '7♧', '8♡', '8♢']
    >>> shuffle(cards)[:12]
    ['A♡', '7♤', 'A♢', '7♧', 'A♤', '8♡', 'A♧', '8♢', '2♡', '8♤', '2♢', '8♧']
    >>> shuffle(shuffle(cards))[:12]
    ['A♡', '4♢', '7♤', '10♧', 'A♢', '4♤', '7♧', 'J♡', 'A♤', '4♧', '8♡', 'J♢']
    >>> cards[:12]  # Should not be changed
    ['A♡', 'A♢', 'A♤', 'A♧', '2♡', '2♢', '2♤', '2♧', '3♡', '3♢', '3♤', '3♧']
    >>> repeated(shuffle, 8)(cards) == cards
    True
    """
    assert len(cards) % 2 == 0, 'len(cards) must be even'
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"

Below is the solution:

def card(n):
    """Return the playing card type for a positive n <= 13."""
    assert type(n) == int and n > 0 and n <= 13, "Bad card n"
    specials = {1: 'A', 11: 'J', 12: 'Q', 13: 'K'}
    return specials.get(n, str(n))

def shuffle(cards, index = 1, incr = 0):
    """Return a shuffled list that interleaves the two halves of cards.

    >>> suits = ['♡', '♢', '♤', '♧']
    >>> cards = [card(n) + suit for n in range(1,14) for suit in suits]
    >>> cards[:12]
    ['A♡', 'A♢', 'A♤', 'A♧', '2♡', '2♢', '2♤', '2♧', '3♡', '3♢', '3♤', '3♧']
    >>> cards[26:30]
    ['7♤', '7♧', '8♡', '8♢']
    >>> shuffle(cards)[:12]
    ['A♡', '7♤', 'A♢', '7♧', 'A♤', '8♡', 'A♧', '8♢', '2♡', '8♤', '2♢', '8♧']
    """
    assert len(cards) % 2 == 0, 'len(cards) must be even'
    if index > (len(cards) // 2):
        element = cards.pop((len(cards) // 2) + incr)
        cards.insert(index, element)
        return cards
    else:
        element = cards.pop((len(cards) // 2) + incr)
        cards.insert(index, element)
        return shuffle(cards, index + 2, incr + 1)

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