Keep top level comments as only solutions, if you want to say something other than a solution put it in a new post. (replies to comments can be whatever)
You can send code in code blocks by using three backticks, the code, and then three backticks or use something such as https://topaz.github.io/paste/ if you prefer sending it through a URL
Is there a leaderboard for the community?: We have a programming.dev leaderboard with the info on how to join in this post: https://programming.dev/post/6631465
Credits to @[email protected] for the approach of using reduce and also how to split the input by multiple characters.
I can happily say that I learned quite a bit today, even though the first part made me frustrated enough that I went searching for other approaches ^^
Part two just needed a simple modification. Changing how the input is parsed and passed to the adapted function took longer than changing the function itself actually.