From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha devil of a time/job etca devil of a time/job etcold-fashioned spoken a difficult or unpleasant time, job etc We had a devil of a job trying to get the carpet clean again. → devil
Examples from the Corpus
a devil of a time/job etc• But I've always found the Flying V and its derivatives a devil of a job to sit down with and play.• If he filled those in they'd have a devil of a job lifting them!• It took me a devil of a time to find it I can tell you.• He was taking a devil of a time to change. 