local function pali(str)
	return ( {
		[true] =
			-- go deeper
			function() return pali( str:sub(2, -2) ) end,
		[#str < 2] =
			-- short word is always a palindrome
			function() return true end,
		[str:sub(1, 1) ~= str:sub(-1, -1)] =
			-- the 1st and last letters are different
			function() return false end,
	} )[true]();
end;

-- print results
print( pali( (...) or "" ) );