hard nut to crack vs task

hard nut to crack

noun
  • A problem that is challenging to solve. 

  • Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hard, nut, crack. 

  • A situation, person, group, etc. which is difficult to overcome or deal with. 

  • A place, opportunity, etc. to which it is difficult to gain entry. 

  • An amount that is difficult to finance. 

task

noun
  • A difficult or tedious undertaking. 

  • Any piece of work done. 

  • A process or execution of a program. 

  • An objective. 

  • A piece of work done as part of one’s duties. 

verb
  • To charge, as with a fault. 

  • To assign a task to, or impose a task on. 

  • To oppress with severe or excessive burdens; to tax 

How often have the words hard nut to crack and task occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )