Finding "hidden" syntax errors

[Larry Bates]

It doesn't happen often, but once in a while I will
introduce a syntax error into a Python program I'm
working on (in IDLE) and doing File-Check responds
with the expected "Failed to check, syntax error -
invalid syntax".  The problem is where the cursor
stops is perfectly legal syntax.  I then begin
going through the laborious job of cutting out
pieces of the code until I find what is wrong.  Is
there some easier way of doing this.  I tried
pychecker but got nowhere because it said it
couldn't import (which I'm sure is because of the
syntax error). Does anyone out there have a "better"
way of tracking down these difficult to locate
errors?

Thanks in advance for any hints.

Regards,
Larry Bates
Syscon, Inc.