They call these types of problems "code golf", because getting your code to as few characters as possible is similar to getting strokes off your golf game. And after this kata I discovered I find it a very painful experience.

This threw some kind of error but passed anyway

I was stuck at 138 and couldn't get it down lower. My maths was as concise as it needed to be. I came back after a while and quickly got it down to 128. 138 -> 128, so you might say the "3" became "2".

I swear to never start another golf challenge

this is hilarious

There should be an "At Least You're Honest" rating

Odd, I might be mistaken

Madman!

This is an interesting issue. I wonder if it's possible to ensure everyone goes with the "hard approach", or whether this type of problem is just inherently solvable the easier way as well?

Good kata. My reaction was something like: "This won't be too hard... oh! ... oh... oooooh..."

Python version doesn't have thorough tests for complex arithmetic. Could pull in some of the random tests from https://www.codewars.com/kata/evaluate-mathematical-expression/ ?

There is also no test to check you can't assign to literals eg. 1 = 2 which I think should be an issue according to the grammar.