Trying to solve the Euler #04 The recursive way

euler04-1.clj

(ns euler.euler04-1)

(defn peel 
  "Peel a string like a banana, removing first and last character"
  [str]
  (butlast (rest str)))

(defn palindrome? 
  "Returns true or false if name is a palindrome.
   This recursive approach is slightly faster than compare with its reverse."
  [name]
  (let [f (first name) 
        l (last name)]
    (if (or (empty? name) (not= f l))
      (= f l)
      (recur (peel name)))))

(defn largest-palindrome
  " A palindromic number reads the same both ways. The largest palindrome made
  from the product of two 2-digit numbers is 9009 = 91 99.
  Find the largest palindrome made from the product of two 3-digit numbers."
  []
  (loop [a 999
         big 0]
    (let [r (loop [b a
                   p2 (palindrome? (str (* a b)))]
              (if 
                (and 
                  (> b 99)
                  (not p2))
                (recur (dec b) 
                       (palindrome? (str (* a (dec b)))))
                (* a b)))]
      (if
        (and
          (> a 99))
        (recur (dec a) 
          (if (> r big)
            r
            big))
        big))))

(defn -main []
  (time (println (largest-palindrome))))