the nub of the problem
the core of the problem

Answer that and you begin to get somewhere near the nub of the problem.

"This is the nub of the problem for the Chinese government," he said.

The nub of the problem is that most conflicts are within countries rather than between them.

There is the nub of the problem: their land has been stolen from them.

That is the nub of the problem, many Chinese officials complain.

Now we come to the nub of the problem.

That has always been the nub of the problem.

The nub of the problem might be the enemy's radio location techniques.

The nub of the problem was that observer, the guy who had to see things objectively.

He deserves a lot of credit for understanding the nub of the problem.

Even so, some brain cells were still working, as I stared inwardly at the nub of the problem.

The nub of the problem is that we have to find ways to finance development over and above the national commitment to 0.7%.

This, however, was the nub of the problem.

Having exposed the nub of the problem, it seemed to require little mental effort to expose the solution.

The nub of the problem is Ukraine, which continues to spurn all inducements.

But the major cause was much more simple: the skyrocketing cost of housing, the issue still at the nub of the problem.

That is the nub of the problem, and we cannot hope to make any progress with the sporting world until it is resolved.

The nub of the problem is this.

Which brought her to the nub of the problem: Siglen's imposed space fear.

The nub of the problem was the relatively new idea that the universe was unbounded and eternal.

"Still, incompetent as he may be, he has put his finger on the nub of the problem, dear.

This proposal attacks the nub of the problem, because it takes the expenditure side of the budget as its starting-point.

There is no sense in making laws and passing regulations unless we can actually enforce them, and this is at the nub of the problem.

The nub of the problem today is that India is behaving as if it and Pakistan were still two-bit countries.

That's the nub of the problem: It's hard to identify a small, gradual sign of global warming amid wide natural fluctuations in climate.