1. cut the Gordian knot - Verb
2. cut the Gordian knot - Phrase
cut the Gordian knot (third-person singular simple present cuts the Gordian knot, present participle cutting the Gordian knot, simple past and past participle cut the Gordian knot)
(intransitive) To solve a seemingly intractable problem by using a simple solution that is unconstrained by the assumptions that underpin the usual attempts to solve that problem.
Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie. Jean Cocteau
According to Barnes: The people of the South and the West had for years been convinced of the enormity of the "crime of 1873", and they had long since come to regard silver as the sword that would cut the Gordian knot of privilege. Source: Internet
According to reviewer David Haddon: citation Mead has cut the Gordian knot of quantum complementarity. Source: Internet