explode('-', $interval), explode(',', file_get_contents('./input.txt'))); $invalids = []; foreach ($intervals as $interval) { [$start, $end] = $interval; $current = $start; while ($current <= $end) { if (is_invalid($current)) { $invalids[] = $current; } $current++; } } function is_invalid($current): bool { if (strlen($current) % 2 !== 0) { return false; } $middle = strlen($current) / 2; return substr($current, 0, $middle) === substr($current, $middle); } echo array_sum($invalids);