definition of
[knotty]

[1] #1 knotty s. [baffling, elusive, problematic, problematical, tough] making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe; "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home". wn

[2] #2 knotty s. [gnarled, gnarly, knotted, knobbed] used of old persons or old trees; covered with knobs or knots; "gnarled and knotted hands"; "a knobbed stick". wn

[3] #3 knotty s. [Byzantine, convoluted, involved, tangled, tortuous] highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "the plot was too involved"; "a knotty problem"; "got his way. wn

[4] #4 knotty s. [snarled, snarly] tangled in knots or snarls; "a mass of knotted string"; "snarled thread". wn