be in a cleft stick
be caught in a cleft stick

He didn't need to be told he was in a cleft stick.

Saruman is in a cleft stick of his own cutting.

Now George was in a cleft stick.

I am in a cleft stick.

The ACPO feels that they are in a cleft stick.

The Dalai Lama was in a cleft stick and the Panchen Lama had gone over to them.

Yet the custom of the land was that he whom the witch-doctor touched must die, he and all his house; therefore the king was in a cleft stick, for he scarcely dared to save even those whom he loved.

I admit that here the barrister is in a cleft stick, and that he must see the business through according to the confidence his client has put in him--and afterwards be as sorry as he may be if an injustice ensues.