The term 'gratia' is Latin for 'GRACE' or 'FAVOR'. It is often used in religious contexts to refer to the unmerited FAVOR of God. The crossword solution for this term is DEI, which is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase 'Deus ex machina', meaning 'God from the machine'. This phrase is used to describe a plot device in which a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and conveniently resolved by the intervention of some outside force.