OP solved it, closing

Still stuck, here is what I have so far. I tried putting the entire code into a Try Except - but it still didn't show me the test case that was failing. Passing all the basic tested up to #18

def rank(st=9999, we=9999, n=9999):
try:
print(st,we,n)
st = st.split(',')

    alpha_score = {
        'a':1,
        'b':2,
        'c':3,
        'd':4,
        'e':5,
        'f':6,
        'g':7,
        'h':8,
        'i':9,
        'j':10,
        'k':11,
        'l':12,
        'm':13,
        'n':14,
        'o':15,
        'p':16,
        'q':17,
        'r':18,
        's':19,
        't':20,
        'u':21,
        'v':22,
        'w':23,
        'x':24,
        'y':25,
        'z':26,
    }

    if st == 9999:
        return 'No participants'

    elif st[0].isalpha():
    
    #try:
        if n > len(st):
            return 'Not enough participants'
    
    
        else:
            n = n - 1
            score_list = []
            name_list = []
            sorted_name_list = []
            sorted_score_list = []
            score_name = {}

            for name in st:

                som = 0
                som += len(name)
                for letter in name.lower():
                    som += alpha_score[letter]
                som = som * we.pop(0)
                if som in score_list:
                    name_confirm = []
                    name_confirm.append(score_name[som])
                    name_confirm.append(name)
                    name_confirm.sort()
                    if name_confirm[0] == name:
                        som += .01
                        score_list.append(som)
                        score_name[som] = name
                    else:
                        som -= .01
                        score_list.append(som)
                        score_name[som] = name
                    
                else:
                    score_list.append(som)
                    score_name[som] = name
            
            for k,v in sorted(score_name.items(), reverse=True):
                sorted_score_list.append(k)
                sorted_name_list.append(v)

        return sorted_name_list[n]
#except:
        print(st, we, k)
    
    else:
        return 'No participants'
except IndexError:
    print(st, we, k)

Thanks for your post and good luck with C:-)

Understandable. I suppose I should've tested it more vigorously on my system, as I got the altered result when I did several tests in a row. I will write a template that'll help me test katas on my system more readily in the future. Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for the help!

Morality of the story: don't post issues too fast:-) It tooks me time to examine your solution:-(

Oh, how embarrassing. All figured out, thank you for the guidance. Please ignore me! I need to study more on stack & heap memory, I reckon...

but if the st passed is "Lagon,Lily", and my function simply processes the given arguments, how could "Elizabeth" even be a possible result of the function

Print your array "names" before your return. When I do that in your solution I get "Lily", "Elizabeth" and your return is ofc Elizabeth...

it returns "Lagon" on my own system when given the exact same arguments

Try on your system not only that test but several tests in a row and you will see. Or add this test

{
    char* st = "Lagon,Lily";
    int we[2] = {1, 5};
    dotest(st, we, 2, 2, "Lagon");
}

at the end of the "Sample Tests". Your answer will anew be Elizabeth.

Granted, but if the st passed is "Lagon,Lily", and my function simply processes the given arguments, how could "Elizabeth" even be a possible result of the function? As I said, it returns "Lagon" on my own system when given the exact same arguments.

I'm trying to solve this with python and I am getting the following:
STDERR
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "main.py", line 85, in
randomTests()
File "main.py", line 83, in randomTests
Test.assert_equals(rank(st, we, k), rankSol(st, we, k))
File "main.py", line 52, in rankSol
res.append([f[i], we[i] * scoreSol(f[i])])
IndexError: list index out of range

I know list index out of range is usually from calling an out of range index value on a list, like lista = [0, 1, 2] and then I try and run lista[3] but I am not really sure where this could be happening in my code. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks!