Critical Crossword Clue

We think the answer is "KEY" which means:

noun
• • Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
• • United states lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the british attack on baltimore during the war of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled `the star-spangled banner' (1779-1843)
• • Something crucial for explaining
• • Pitch of the voice
• • Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
• • A kilogram of a narcotic drug
• • A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
• • A coral reef off the southern coast of florida
• • (basketball) a space (including the foul line) in front of the basket at each end of a basketball court; usually painted a different color from the rest of the court
• • A list of answers to a test
• • A list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
• • A generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access
• • Mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
• • The central building block at the top of an arch or vault
• • A lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed
adjective satellite
• • Serving as an essential component
verb
• • Identify as in botany or biology, for example
• • Provide with a key
• • Vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key
• • Regulate the musical pitch of
• • Harmonize with or adjust to
adjective
• • Indispensable, supremely important.
• • Important, salient.

An example sentence would be:

• • "I can't find my house key."
• • "She pressed the key on the keyboard."

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