The Password Game: Solving Rule 18 with Atomic Numbers

How to Beat Rule 18

The atomic number of all elements must add up to 200. When you get to Rule 18, you might see some letters or letter combos highlighted in your password. The letters highlighted correspond to one- or two-letter element symbols (such as O for oxygen, He for helium, Ir for iridium, etc.). Each of these elements has an atomic weight, and you must include a combination of elements that have atomic numbers that add up to 200. The best way to get through this rule is to avoid capital letters in your password as much as possible, except where required. The elemental symbols you choose should ideally not start with a Roman numeral (I, V, X, L, C, D, or M) and should not contain any vowels, to avoid messing up later rules. Since Rule 12 requires you to have a two-letter symbol for an element from the periodic table, you'll need to have at least one two-letter symbol in your password to begin with.

Rule 18 Solution

There's not one easy solution for Rule 18. Since the contents of your password might vary depending on how you've completed the other rules in the game, there's no singular easy answer for Rule 18. One way to get through this rule is to avoid having any other element symbols in your password and type something like OgPb, which is Oganesson (118) and Lead (82), since 118 + 82 = 200. Alternatively, you can add up the atomic numbers for the elements already in your password, find an element that has an atomic number that matches the remainder, and add that to your password. Use the chart below to find the element with the appropriate atomic number. For example, if you already have In (Indium), which has an atomic number of 49, Ar (argon), which has an atomic number of 18, and No (nobelium), which has an atomic number of 102, in your password, you'd do the following calculations: 49 + 18 + 102 = 169 200 - 169 = 31 You'd then add Ga (gallium) to your password, since gallium has an atomic number of 31.

All Atomic Numbers

Element Element Symbol Atomic Number Hydrogen H 1 Helium He 2 Lithium Li 3 Beryllium Be 4 Boron B 5 Carbon C 6 Nitrogen N 7 Oxygen O 8 Fluorine F 9 Neon Ne 10 Sodium Na 11 Magnesium Mg 12 Aluminium Al 13 Silicon Si 14 Phosphorus P 15 Sulfur S 16 Chlorine Cl 17 Argon Ar 18 Potassium K 19 Calcium Ca 20 Scandium Sc 21 Titanium Ti 22 Vanadium V 23 Chromium Cr 24 Manganese Mn 25 Iron Fe 26 Cobalt Co 27 Nickel Ni 28 Copper Cu 29 Zinc Zn 30 Gallium Ga 31 Germanium Ge 32 Arsenic As 33 Selenium Se 34 Bromine Br 35 Krypton Kr 36 Rubidium Rb 37 Strontium Sr 38 Yttrium Y 39 Zirconium Zr 40 Niobium Nb 41 Molybdenum Mo 42 Technetium Tc 43 Ruthenium Ru 44 Rhodium Rh 45 Palladium Pd 46 Silver Ag 47 Cadmium Cd 48 Indium In 49 Tin Sn 50 Antimony Sb 51 Tellurium Te 52 Iodine I 53 Xenon Xe 54 Cesium Cs 55 Barium Ba 56 Lanthanum La 57 Cerium Ce 58 Praseodymium Pr 59 Neodymium Nd 60 Promethium Pm 61 Samarium Sm 62 Europium Eu 63 Gadolinium Gd 64 Terbium Tb 65 Dysprosium Dy 66 Holmium Ho 67 Erbium Er 68 Thulium Tm 69 Ytterbium Yb 70 Lutetium Lu 71 Hafnium Hf 72 Tantalum Ta 73 Tungsten W 74 Rhenium Re 75 Osmium Os 76 Iridium Ir 77 Platinum Pt 78 Gold Au 79 Mercury Hg 80 Thallium Tl 81 Lead Pb 82 Bismuth Bi 83 Polonium Po 84 Astatine At 85 Radon Rn 86 Francium Fr 87 Radium Ra 88 Actinium Ac 89 Thorium Th 90 Protactinium Pa 91 Uranium U 92 Neptunium Np 93 Plutonium Pu 94 Americium Am 95 Curium Cm 96 Berkelium Bk 97 Californium Cf 98 Einsteinium Es 99 Fermium Fm 100 Mendelevium Md 101 Nobelium No 102 Lawrencium Lr 103 Rutherfordium Rf 104 Dubnium Db 105 Seaborgium Sg 106 Bohrium Bh 107 Hassium Hs 108 Meitnerium Mt 109 Darmstadtium Ds 110 Roentgenium Rg 111 Copernicium Cn 112 Nihonium Nh 113 Flerovium Fl 114 Moscovium Mc 115 Livermorium Lv 116 Tennessine Ts 117 Oganesson Og 118

Considerations for Other Rules

Rule 3 Rule 3 requires your password to have an uppercase letter. The easiest way to get around this rule is to simply delete the previous uppercase letter you added to your password, or ensure that the uppercase letter doesn't create a one- or two-letter elemental symbol. Ideally, the uppercase letter also isn't a Roman numeral nor a vowel, to avoid messing up other rules in the game.

Rule 7 To beat Rule 7, you must include a Roman numeral in your password. To avoid messing up this rule with Rule 18, pick XXXV for your Roman numeral (to satisfy a future rule) and avoid using any element symbols that start with I, V, X, L, C, D, or M.

Rule 9 To satisfy Rule 9, the Roman numerals in your password must equal 35. Note that the wording of the rule says they must multiply, but the correct answer does not actually involve multiplication. This is why it's best to pick XXXV for Rule 7, and avoid using an element symbol that starts with I, V, X, L, C, D, or M.

Rule 10 In Rule 10, you'll be required to type out a CAPTCHA to add it to your password. Oftentimes, these CAPTCHAs will have numbers in them. There are two ways to deal with this rule: Refresh the CAPTCHA until you get one without capital letters. There's a little arrow button next to the CAPTCHA that you can use to refresh it. This is the preferred way to deal with this rule. You should also look for a CAPTCHA without any numbers to avoid messing up some of the other rules in the game. Type the CAPTCHA as is, then adjust the element symbols you've chosen as needed. You may not even have to adjust your element symbols if the capital letters in the CAPTCHA don't correlate to any elements on the periodic table.

Rule 11 In Rule 11, you must type today's Wordle answer in your password. To avoid messing up Rule 18, simply type the word without a capital letter at the front.

Rule 14 To beat Rule 14, you must type the name of the country shown in Google Maps. To avoid messing up Rule 18, type the name of the country without capitalizing the first letter.

Rule 24 Rule 24 To satisfy Rule 24, you must include a URL to a YouTube video that matches the length of time specified by the game. There are a couple of ways to do this: Pick a URL that has no capital letters. This is the ideal way to go about it, since dealing with capital letters in the URL will potentially severely mess up Rule 18 (and potentially some of the other rules in the game regarding Roman numerals). Ideally, the URL won't have any numbers either, to avoid messing up some of the other rules in the game. Adjust the elements you wrote for Rule 18 to accommodate any unintentional element symbols present in the URL. You may not even have to adjust your element symbols if the capital letters in the URL don't correlate to any elements on the periodic table.