#!/usr/bin/python shoplist=['mango','apple','carrot','banana','oracle','python'] length = len(shoplist) global n for i in range(length,1,-1): if i==6: n = shoplist.index(shoplist[3]) shoplist.remove(shoplist[n]) print n continue if n+3>i: n=n+3-i-1 shoplist.remove(shoplist[n]) print n continue if n+3<i: n=n+3-1 shoplist.remove(shoplist[n]) print n continue print shoplist