Secret Santa matching script

secret_santa.py

import random

participants = '''

	Curie
	Einstein
	Faraday
	Maxwell
	Newton
	Tesla

'''

class BadLuckException(Exception):
	pass


p_list = tuple(e.strip() for e in participants.split('\n') if e.strip())

def draw(p_list):
	remaining = set(p_list)
	result = dict()

	for name in p_list:
		options = remaining - {name}
		if not options:
			raise BadLuckException('Drawing made someone their own secret Santa')
		recipient = random.choice(tuple(options))
		remaining.remove(recipient)
		result[name] = recipient

	return result

while True:
	try:
		result = draw(p_list)
		break
	except BadLuckException:
		print('Retrying drawing due to bad luck...')

for santa, recipient in sorted(result.items()):
	print(f'{santa} → {recipient}')

# Example output

# Curie → Tesla
# Einstein → Maxwell
# Faraday → Curie
# Maxwell → Newton
# Newton → Einstein
# Tesla → Faraday