Just a Nybble
by
Erik Oosterwal
By now, I'm sure you're aware that in computer language, a BIT is one Binary
digIT, and eight BITs make up one BYTE. It is less commonly known that
one half of a BYTE (or 4 BITs) is called a NYBBLE. I have no idea when
this started (I first heard it back in college during the '80s), but it is
obviously related to a play on spelling between 'bite' and 'byte'. Since
a small bite is commonly called a nibble, one half a BYTE became known as
a NYBBLE.
Now that I described where the title of this crossnumber puzzle came from,
let me explain how to do the puzzle. Unlike most cross-number puzzles,
this one consists completely of binary numbers, so all the characters needed
to fill in the squares will be 0s or 1s. In binary math, 1 is written
as 1, 01, 0001, or 00000001, depending on how many leading 0s you are using.
2 is written as 10, 0010, or 00000010. 3 is written as 11, 0011,
or 00000011, and 4 is written as 100, 0100, or 00000100. For this puzzle
we will stick with 4 bit numbers-hence the word NYBBLE in the title. For
a conversion chart between decimal and binary numbers try this handy
Decimal,
Hexadecimal, and Binary Conversion Chart.
Across:
1. "2 Down" x 2
2. A triangular number
3. The cube of ("4 Down" - 2)
4. "3 Across" + "3 Down"
Down:
1. NOT "2 Across"
2. NOT "1 Across"
3. "2 Across" x 2
4. "4 Across" - "1 Across"
I give up, show me the ANSWER
Copyright E. Oosterwal - 2004
Back to The Puzzle Page