Count Asterisks

use Test;

my &count-asterisks = *.comb(
    /<[\w*]>*"|"<[\w*]>*"|"/
)>>.&{ .split("|").head.comb: "*" }.sum;

is "p|*e*rl|w**e|*ekly|".&count-asterisks, 2;
is "perl".&count-asterisks, 0;
is "th|ewe|e**|k|l***ych|alleng|e".&count-asterisks, 5;