tough egg to crack

tough egg (to crack)

A person, thing, situation, or problem that is particularly difficult to understand, solve, or deal with. I've been dating Jenny for over a year, and I still think she's a tough egg to crack! Figuring out the best way to modernize our product without alienating existing customers is definitely a tough egg to crack. The spy we captured is a tough egg; he hasn't said a thing since we began the interrogation.
See also: egg, tough

tough egg to crack

and tough nut to crack
n. a person or thing that is hard to figure out or hard to deal with. She won’t talk. She’s going to be a tough nut to crack! I wish Jill wasn’t such a tough nut to crack.
See also: crack, egg, tough
References in periodicals archive ?
"Hersey's singles lineup is a tough egg to crack, so our doubles (teams) needed to really step up and deliver wins, and that's just what they did."
Boys tennis: Fremd turns the tables on Hersey
The fact my grandmother probably understands more about blu-ray players than me means I may be a tough egg to crack.
Coming to rescue of technophobes
However the 26-year-old light-heavy prospect admitted that 36-year-old Okoth was a tough egg to crack.
'BOMBER' IMPRESSES BANKERS
What those costs will be, however, remains a tough egg to crack for the moment; the price-tag will be determined once production begins, the Riva Palacio brothers say.
Mexico's Huevos hit bigscreen
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?