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So, my first question on this topic was answered fairly quickly with quite a long word, so I thought I might post a different version of the puzzle

The idea this time is similar to last time: you must construct the longest possible word from chemical symbols on the Periodic Table. However this time, to narrow down the playing field a little, I've restricted the chemical symbols that can be used in your word into 7 categories:

1 - Alkali Metals and Alkali Earth Metals + Hydrogen; H, Li, Be, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Rb, Sr, Cs, Ba, Fr, Ra

2 - Transition Metals; Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Rf, Db, Sg, Bh, Hs, Mt, Ds, Rg, Cn

3 - Groups 3 + 4 (Groups topped with Boron / Carbon); B, C, Al, Si, Ga, Ge, In, Sn, Tl, Pb, Uut, Fl

4 - Groups 5 + 6 (Groups topped with Nitrogen / Oxygen); N, O, P, S, As, Se, Sb, Te, Bi, Po, Uup, Lv

5 - The Halogens and Noble Gases; He, F, Ne, Cl, Ar, Br, Kr, I, Xe, At, Rn, Uus, Uuo

6 - The Lanthanides; La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu

7 - The Actinides; Ac, Th, Pa, U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm, Bk, Cf, Es, Fm, Md, No, Lr

Simply answer any or all of these categories with the longest possible word made from that particular groups of elements. May the games begin!

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    $\begingroup$ Can you provide a list of elements we can use? I have a list but I don't know what ones fall in what category... $\endgroup$
    – warspyking
    Nov 24, 2014 at 15:05
  • $\begingroup$ @warspyking Figuring that out is part of the puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – pacoverflow
    Nov 24, 2014 at 16:32
  • $\begingroup$ The lanthanides and actinides are going to be doozies - most of the abbreviations are two letters. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868
    Nov 24, 2014 at 23:35
  • $\begingroup$ @HDE226868, I'm not sure whether doozies are easy or hard, but far more important than being one or two letters is what vowels are available. $\endgroup$
    – Peter Taylor
    Nov 24, 2014 at 23:58
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    $\begingroup$ I’m voting to close this question because open-ended puzzles are off-topic as of May 2019 $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Jun 28, 2021 at 21:30

4 Answers 4

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All words are in SOWPODS.

  1. CaRaCaRa
  2. CrOsTiNi (NB using the red-background elements from the first table in the Wikipedia article: the article notes that there isn't universal agreement on what the term means).
  3. AlGeSiC
  4. TeAsPoONS
  5. HeXeNe
  6. LaNdLaDy
  7. AmEsAcEs
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  • $\begingroup$ 4. Can do with Tamo $\endgroup$
    – skv
    Nov 24, 2014 at 16:52
  • $\begingroup$ @skv, not in SOWPODS. $\endgroup$
    – Peter Taylor
    Nov 24, 2014 at 16:54
  • $\begingroup$ But the OP wanted words in dictionary.com so technically its acceptable for this Question I guess $\endgroup$
    – skv
    Nov 24, 2014 at 17:39
  • $\begingroup$ Answers 1, 2, 5 and 6 are great, but when I said groups 3-4 and 5-6 I meant the groups topped with Boron-Oxygen. I guess wikipedia uses that method of group counting... the post has been edited for clarification but well done, the best all-round attempt so far. $\endgroup$
    – For I In Range
    Nov 25, 2014 at 16:13
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I'll start the ball rolling. I don't know if these are the longest. I'd be happy to be proven wrong. NB: I got all the lists of elements from Wikipedia.

  • Alkali metals and alkaline earth metals: "BaNaNa"
  • Transition metals: "ScReWY" (there must be something longer than this)
  • Group 3 and 4: "LaY"
  • Group 5 and 6: "MoW"
  • Halogens and noble gases: "BrIAr"
  • Lanthanides: "LaNdLaDy"
  • Actinides: "ThEsEs"
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  • $\begingroup$ Ba is not an alakali metal nor is it H. $\endgroup$
    – Valentin Grégoire
    Nov 24, 2014 at 15:29
  • $\begingroup$ but it is Alkaline Earth metal I guess $\endgroup$
    – skv
    Nov 24, 2014 at 15:54
  • $\begingroup$ You're right! My bad! $\endgroup$
    – Valentin Grégoire
    Nov 24, 2014 at 16:01
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1 Alkali Metals and Alkali Earth Metals + Hydrogen:

Barabara [BaRaBaRa] (8)
Caracara [CaRaCaRa] (8)
Banana [BaNaNa] (6)
Cabana [CaBaNa] (6)
Linacs [LiNaCs] (6)

2 Transition Metals:

Crostini [CrOsTiNi] (8)
Redbirds [ReDbIrDs] (8)
Cryptos [CrYPtOs] (7)
Viragos [VIrAgOs] (7)

3 Groups 3 + 4 (Groups topped with Boron / Carbon):

Albinal [AlBInAl] (7)
Algesic [AlGeSiC] (7)

4 Groups 5 + 6 (Groups topped with Nitrogen / Oxygen):

Nonsenses [NONSeNSeS] (9)
Possesses [POSSeSSeS] (9)
Teaspoons [TeAsPoONS] (9)
Assesses [AsSeSSeS] (8)
Nonsense [NONSeNSe] (8)
Osteoses [OSTeOSeS] (8)
Sponsons [SPONSONS] (8)
Stenoses [STeNOSeS] (8)
Stepsons [STePSONS] (8)

5 The Halogens and Noble Gases:

Hexene [HeXeNe] (6)
Neinei [NeINeI] (6)
Briar [BrIAr] (5)
Brine [BrINe] (5)
Cliff [ClIFF] (5)
Cline [ClINe] (5)

6 The Lanthanides:

Landlady [LaNdLaDy] (8)
Lander [LaNdEr] (6)

7 The Actinides:

Amesaces [AmEsAcEs] (8)
Estheses [EsThEsEs] (8)
Noeses [NoEsEs] (6)
Theses [ThEsEs] (6)

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For the alkali metals et. al., CaBaNa is the best I can do.

BrINe ties BrIAr for the longest I can find in the halogens and noble gases.

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