Steve Jones - SSC Editor (4/27/2016)
Simpler, but I've done some of these: http://exercism.io/Python is built to use modules. Trying to not use them, in some sense, defeats the purpose. I guess it gains algorithmic practice, but perhaps leads you to spend time on items that could better be done in other ways.
I guess it's a balance of some sort.
It's likely because a lot of modules do all the work for you. They are trying to restrict that and see what you can do with the bare essentials for learning purposes. Having to always lean on a module will surely hinder you in solving these complex problems.