magic

magic adj.  1. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to
   explain; compare {automagically} and (Arthur C.) Clarke's Third
   Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
   from magic."  "TTY echoing is controlled by a large number of
   magic bits."  "This routine magically computes the parity of an
   8-bit byte in three instructions."  2. Characteristic of something
   that works although no one really understands why (this is
   especially called {black magic}).  3. [Stanford] A feature not
   generally publicized that allows something otherwise impossible, or
   a feature formerly in that category but now unveiled.  Compare
   {black magic}, {wizardly}, {deep magic}, {heavy
   wizardry}.

   For more about hackish `magic', see {A Story About `Magic'}
   in Appendix A.