Periodic table puzzle

My son has homework. The task is to try to find 50 of the elements from the periodic table in this matrix of letters, whether by row or column or diagonal, backward or forward. (DISCLAIMER: I typed the puzzle in from his handout, and may have made a mistake here or there).

AYMR-------------------------------ASSM RNUE-------------------------------BLUE GNTN-------------------------------EIRG OOSI-------------------------------TTOS NCADMIUMN----------------DEFLUORINEHLHU AINOEOBOC----------------GHPBROMINEDAPL ILOIJENLH----------------KLMUINEHTURCSP MIDNZELYO----------------PMQRTSCMUVHEOH WSAYXMDBZ----------------YDURXEUASLBLHU LCRNURBDD----------------PENITIFGOHOIPR EJKIORLEM----------------OENODVPRDNLQTH KNDGARTNR----------------THHNIAISIIAAHE CNEDSTIUHYAHEMPERBENITATSAIAOGNLUUDNIAN INIOBIUMOCLEIDETANABELEGOSCFFEAMLMTTTLI NUHTNEELDEULMBORONMLENNTSSISLNDLIAGHHLU MNOBRACMISMUINITCALCIUMMUINOCRIZLTPASIM ORMMMOUTUEIDBUPUTUNETTVERUEEOTUUHIENIUL ESULUNGCMNNRMYMMRORNTAHTUMSIBIMNMIUULMN GMIIIIEEAVUERMUIRTTYNTYIFIRIAIRIDIUMVVE RUNTSECMNBMKLIUEMECHROMIUMANLTSUOXYGENM EIAHELRNICEMNMDESENAGNAMAMPSTRONTIUMRAN PLTINEADANBE--------------------------- PEIUGMIUARLA--------------------------- OHTMAUDRMEFD--------------------------- CMUAMUIMSOLD---------------------------

After he finished, naturally, I wrote a Python script to solve this. I won't impose on you by showing the whole listing. It is here. But there are two things worth noting. First, as before, I used this trick for transposing a matrix (consisting of a list of lists). And I found a new (one-liner) trick i didn't know for reversing a string:

>>> s = 'abcde'
>>> print s[::-1]
edcba


I've never seen this before, and a search of 6 or 7 minutes did not reveal where it is documented, but it's very easy!

Are you're wondering which elements were found? I typed in 74 to look for, as indicated below. The puzzle said that it skipped some---the ones not shown in the 18-column view (lanthanoids and actinoids). I found 72.

ALUMINUM col fwd 10 13 ------------ALUMINUMEBLFL ANTIMONY dia fwd 0 1 ANTIMONYZ---EDOTTOTHG---- ARGON col fwd 0 1 ARGONAIMWLEKCINMOEGREPPOC ARSENIC col rev 26 14 ----EHLMDEEHICINESRAP---- ASTATINE row rev 12 19 CNEDSTIUHYAHEMPERBENITATSAIAOGNLUUDNIAN BARIUM dia rev 92 8 UDUACMEMUIRAB-------D---- BERYLLIUM dia fwd 3 7 OCNIZMBERYLLIUMIME---- BISMUTH row rev 17 23 ESULUNGCMNNRMYMMRORNTAHTUMSIBIMNMIUULMN BORON row fwd 14 14 NUHTNEELDEULMBORONMLENNTSSISLNDLIAGHHLU BROMINE row fwd 5 29 AINOEOBOC----------------GHPBROMINEDAPL CADMIUM row fwd 4 2 NCADMIUMN----------------DEFLUORINEHLHU CALCIUM row fwd 15 17 MNOBRACMISMUINITCALCIUMMUINOCRIZLTPASIM CARBON row rev 15 2 MNOBRACMISMUINITCALCIUMMUINOCRIZLTPASIM CESIUM dia rev 106 5 ----MUISECNALSDHBESL CHLORINE dia rev 105 12 ----AIFMEOLENIROLHCPU CHROMIUM row fwd 19 19 RUNTSECMNBMKLIUEMECHROMIUMANLTSUOXYGENM COBALT col fwd 28 16 ----LBURRIONOFLCOBALT---- COPPER col rev 0 20 ARGONAIMWLEKCINMOEGREPPOC FLUORINE row fwd 4 28 NCADMIUMN----------------DEFLUORINEHLHU FRANCIUM dia rev 13 4 IUOMUICNARFD GALLIUM dia fwd 41 13 --------YENNGALLIUMEA- GERMANIUM dia fwd 89 3 UMGERMANIUMDP------------ GOLD dia rev 103 20 ----GOYTRIIFOIVFAUUDLOG HAFNIUM dia fwd 39 12 ----------OHAFNIUMIYM--- HELIUM col rev 1 19 YNNOCILISCJNNNUNRSMUILEHM HYDROGEN dia rev 77 2 NNEGORDYH------ INDIUM dia fwd 76 1 INDIUMLLC----- IODINE col rev 3 2 RENIDOINYNIGDOTBMLITHIUMA IRIDIUM row fwd 18 30 GMIIIIEEAVUERMUIRTTYNTYIFIRIAIRIDIUMVVE IRON dia rev 6 4 IIANORIMDSIRRID---- KRYPTON dia fwd 93 6 IRANEKRYPTONE------GE---- LEAD dia rev 14 8 NNMLIERDAEL LITHIUM col fwd 3 18 RENIDOINYNIGDOTBMLITHIUMA MAGNESIUM col rev 4 17 ----MEJZXUOASBNRMUISENGAM MANGANESE row rev 20 16 EIAHELRNICEMNMDESENAGNAMAMPSTRONTIUMRAN MERCURY dia fwd 25 13 YUN-IBLO----MERCURYRN---- MOLYBDENUM col fwd 7 5 ----MOLYBDENUMLMTCEMNDURM NEON dia fwd 10 2 ENEONAUCABEE--- NICKEL col rev 0 10 ARGONAIMWLEKCINMOEGREPPOC NIOBIUM row fwd 13 2 INIOBIUMOCLEIDETANABELEGOSCFFEAMLMTTTLI NITROGEN dia fwd 11 2 KNITROGENCBA-- OSMIUM row rev 24 5 CMUAMUIMSOLD--------------------------- OXYGEN row fwd 19 33 RUNTSECMNBMKLIUEMECHROMIUMANLTSUOXYGENM PALLADIUM dia rev 43 8 ------KMUIDALLAPNLVM PHOSPHORUS col rev 37 1 SUROHPSOHPTHALLIUMVNA---- PLATINUM dia fwd 85 1 PLATINUMDCA------------ POLONIUM dia rev 107 12 ----AMRIORDMUINOLOP POTASSIUM col fwd 25 10 ----DGKPYPOTASSIUMIMM---- RADIUM dia rev 78 1 MUIDARBBO------- RADON col rev 2 6 MUTSANODARKDEIHOMUINATITU RHENIUM col fwd 38 10 MEGSULPHURHENIUMLNEMN---- RUBIDIUM dia rev 91 1 MUIDIBURBNOTR------------ RUTHENIUM row rev 6 28 ILOIJENLH----------------KLMUINEHTURCSP SCANDIUM dia fwd 102 11 ----ARTHEUSCANDIUMTEHTRE SELENIUM dia fwd 95 1 SELENIUMTAMBI----PLPL---- SILICON col rev 1 3 YNNOCILISCJNNNUNRSMUILEHM SILVER col fwd 36 16 SLITLACELIQAITHSILVER---- SODIUM col fwd 33 9 ----NNTUSODIUMATIIIXI---- STRONTIUM row fwd 20 28 EIAHELRNICEMNMDESENAGNAMAMPSTRONTIUMRAN TANTALUM dia rev 110 8 ----SLIMULATNATR TECHNETIUM dia fwd 101 16 ----NHNAVMSSIHOTECHNETIUM TELLURIUM dia rev 96 5 OFA-MUIRULLET---YMMBU---- THALLIUM col fwd 37 11 SUROHPSOHPTHALLIUMVNA---- TIN row rev 9 28 LCRNURBDD----------------PENITIFGOHOIPR TITANIUM col rev 2 17 MUTSANODARKDEIHOMUINATITU TUNGSTEN dia fwd 99 9 ----SETNTUNGSTENRTNMI--BS VANADIUM col fwd 30 11 ----OONSEIVANADIUMRSO---- XENON dia fwd 75 5 CNKNXENON---- YTTRIUM row rev 18 14 GMIIIIEEAVUERMUIRTTYNTYIFIRIAIRIDIUMVVE ZINC dia rev 3 2 OCNIZMBERYLLIUMIME---- ZIRCONIUM row rev 15 24 MNOBRACMISMUINITCALCIUMMUINOCRIZLTPASIM found 72 elements tested 74 in total not seen: SULFUR LUTETIUM