Final Answer:
Sure, an optimal solution would involve iterating through the list of strings, comparing each pair of elements to check for common characters exceeding the count of 2, combining them into a single entry with sorted alphabetical order, resulting in a final list of unique strings in alphabetical order.
Step-by-step explanation:
To achieve this efficiently, you can use a set to store processed strings, iterating through the list while checking common characters between pairs using set intersection. If common characters exceed 2, merge the strings, sort them alphabetically, and add the merged string to the set. Finally, convert the set to a sorted list to obtain the desired output. This solution ensures that the merging process occurs efficiently without redundant comparisons, maintaining alphabetical order throughout.
In summary, the optimal solution involves set operations to identify common characters and efficiently merge strings while maintaining alphabetical order.
Answer: Combine entries with more than 2 common characters into a single string with characters in alphabetical order, resulting in a final list in alphabetical order.
This approach minimizes redundant comparisons by using sets and efficiently merges strings, preserving alphabetical order.