Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US Und.) any form of scheme whereby the criminal cannot lose.

1914

Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 53: kitty hop [...] A heads-i-win-tails-you-lose situation or proposition; a ‘double-cross’; a ‘frame-up,’ in which ‘both ends may be played against the middle.’ Also used to indicate a practical joke. Example: ‘We got the skirt to frame a kitty hop for him and he fell for it.’.