         string0: String, string1: String) -> Bool {
             
             if (BSShuffler.isLeafNode(node, string0:string0, string1:string1)
-                && BSShuffler.isNodeValueEqualToValue(node, value:shuffledString)) {
+                && (node.value == shuffledString)) {
                     return true
             } else {
                 return false

     *  Useful during development for examining traversal history.
     */
    var nodesSearched: Array<String> = []

    class func isNodeValueEqualToValue(node: BSNode, value: String) -> Bool {
        if (node.value == value) {
            return true
        }
        return false
    }

    // MARK: - node index methods
    

                let shuffledStringStart = BSShuffler.shuffledStringStart(shuffledString,
                    node:node)
                
                if (node.value == shuffledStringStart) {
                    // path to this node is a valid candidate, so add sub-branches
                    BSShuffler.addLeftNodeToNodeAndQueue(node, queue:&queue, string0:string0)
                    BSShuffler.addRightNodeToNodeAndQueue(node, queue:&queue, string1:string1)
