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How can a problem or puzzle be analogized as a knot? 

An ESL student was asking about [the quotation below](https://membean.com/wrotds/solv-loosen) at my school, but I don't know how to expound or simplify to her that "A problem or puzzle can be thought of as a knot." Any ideas? She knows what a knot is, but somehow she can't connect the dots between a knot and a problem. 


> The Latin roots **solv** and its variant **solut** both mean “loosen.” Let’s ab**solut**ely re**solv**e these roots right now in a re**solut**e fashion!
> 
> Let’s begin with the root **solv**, which means “loosen.” A problem or puzzle can be thought of as a knot. When you **solv**e a problem, you “loosen” or untie that knot. When you show re**solv**e in doing so, you are determined to “loosen” that knot no matter what. Once you re**solv**e or set the task to “loosen” the puzzle, you can ab**solv**e or “loosen” yourself from this responsibility by using willpower to complete it.