nut to crack
noun
Roget 533:
secret;
dead secret,
profound secret;
arcanum†,
mystery;
latency
etc.
526;
Asian mystery†;
sealed book,
secrets of the prison house;
le desous des cartes [Fr.].
enigma,
riddle,
puzzle,
nut to crack,
conundrum,
charade,
rebus,
logogriph†;
monogram,
anagram;
Sphinx;
crux criticorum [Lat.].
maze,
labyrinth,
Hyrcynian wood;
intricacy,
meander.
problem
etc.
(question)
461;
paradox
etc.
(difficulty)
704;
unintelligibility
etc.
519;
terra incognita
etc.
(ignorance)
491.
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Roget 704:
difficulty;
hardness
etc.
adj.;
impracticability
etc.
(impossibility)
471;
tough work,
hard work,
uphill work;
hard task,
Herculean task,
Augean task†;
task of Sisyphus,
Sisyphean labor,
tough job,
teaser,
rasper†,
dead lift.
dilemma,
embarrassment;
deadlock;
perplexity
etc.
(uncertainty)
475;
intricacy;
entanglement,
complexity
etc.
59;
cross fire;
awkwardness,
delicacy,
ticklish card to play,
knot,
Gordian knot,
dignus vindice nodus [Lat.],
net,
meshes,
maze;
coil
etc.
(convolution)
248;
crooked path;
involvement.
nice point,
delicate point,
subtle point,
knotty point;
vexed question,
vexata quaestio [Lat.],
poser;
puzzle
etc.
(riddle)
533;
paradox;
hard nut to crack,
nut to crack;
bone to pick,
crux,
pons asinorum [Lat.],
where the shoe pinches.
nonplus,
quandary,
strait,
pass,
pinch,
pretty pass,
stress,
brunt;
critical situation,
crisis;
trial,
rub,
emergency,
exigency,
scramble.
scrape,
hobble,
slough,
quagmire,
hot water,
hornet's nest;
sea of troubles,
peck of troubles;
pretty kettle of fish;
pickle,
stew,
imbroglio,
mess,
ado;
false position.
set fast,
stand,
standstill;
deadlock,
dead set.
fix,
horns of a dilemma,
cul de sac [Fr.];
hitch;
stumbling block
etc.
(hindrance)
706.
[difficult person]
crab;
curmudgeon.
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