problem_17.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
project euler # 17

If the numbers 1 to 5 are written out in words: one, two, three, four, five,
then there are 3 + 3 + 5 + 4 + 4 = 19 letters used in total.

If all the numbers from 1 to 1000 (one thousand) inclusive were written out in
words, how many letters would be used?

NOTE: Do not count spaces or hyphens. For example, 342 (three hundred and
forty-two) contains 23 letters and 115 (one hundred and fifteen) contains 20
letters. The use of "and" when writing out numbers is in compliance with British
usage.
"""
import inflect

p = inflect.engine()

def length(string):
    """length of string without spaces or hyphens"""
    return len(string.replace(" ", "").replace("-", ""))

count = 0

for number in range(1, 1001):
    count += length(p.number_to_words(number))

print(count)