knotty question

Now, an unusual collaborative exhibition has opened at the two institutions; together they commissioned 20 artists — including Alison Saar, Hank Willis Thomas, Wilmer Wilson IV and Dread Scott — to make new work and bring a multitude of perspectives to the knotty question Benjamin Franklin reportedly pondered in 1787, as the Constitution was being written: Was the sun rising or setting on American democracy?

Perhaps because it was taking part in front of a mixed audience rather than one of SNP devotees, it was striking that this debate ultimately focused more on winning people round to the "why" of independence, rather than the knotty question of "how".

Which brings us to the knotty question at the start of this column: Is this allowed?

The knotty question is what to do next.

It is an eternally knotty question, but one that is stymied by the structure of the book.