crux

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The Word of the Day for March 21 is:

crux   \KRUKS\   noun
     1 : a puzzling or difficult problem : an unsolved question
    *2 : an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an 
outcome
     3 : a main or central feature (as of an argument)

Example sentence:
     Richie jumped right to the crux of the matter and asked 
Toby point-blank if he had taken the money that was missing.

Did you know?
     In Latin, "crux" referred literally to an instrument of 
torture, often a cross or stake, and figuratively to the torture 
and misery inflicted by means of such an instrument. "Crux" 
eventually developed the sense of "a puzzling or difficult 
problem"; that was the first meaning that was used when the word 
entered English in the early 18th century. Later, in the late 
19th century, "crux" began to be used more specifically to refer 
to an essential point of a legal case that required resolution 
before the case as a whole could be resolved. Today, the verdict 
on "crux" is that it can be used to refer to any important part 
of a problem or argument, inside or outside of the courtroom.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.