Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) something difficult, impossible or dangerous.

1973

TULIPQ (coll. B.K. Dumas).

2. (US) a ruthless individual.

1982

J. Ehrlichman Witness to Power 127: ‘There’s got to be one man in charge over there. Who will it be? Rehnquist?’ ‘He’s not a nut cutter.’.