Solved cryptogram
Chromium takes its name from color, because its compounds come in reds, greens and yellows.
Chemistry Facts, sourced to Royal Society of Chemistry.
What it means
A trace of chromium is what makes a ruby red and an emerald green, in each case sitting inside a mineral that would otherwise be colorless. The element is also what puts the stainless in stainless steel: at around a tenth of the alloy by weight it forms a self repairing oxide film that keeps oxygen away from the iron underneath.
The claim comes from Royal Society of Chemistry, and the page it comes from was read on 2026-08-27 to confirm it still says this.
This is not the kind of claim that goes out of date, which is why it was set as a puzzle rather than a fact with a shelf life.
Solve it yourself
This fact is a cryptogram here: 74 letters over 21 different ones, graded hard.
- SourceRoyal Society of Chemistry
- CollectionChemistry Facts
- Difficultyhard
- Length74 letters, 21 of them different
Nearby in the collection
The facts either side of this one.
- Royal Society of Chemistrymedium, 72 letters
- Royal Society of Chemistrymedium, 74 letters
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- Royal Society of Chemistrymedium, 71 letters
About as hard as this one
Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.
- Royal Society of Chemistryhard, 76 letters
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- Royal Society of Chemistryhard, 76 letters