Such distinctions are uncertain and the situation is not likely to have been so clear cut.
But things don't always seem so clear cut in the field.
For an ordinary person trying to live his or her life it is not so clear cut.
But economic studies in general are not so clear cut.
Nine months later, the impact is hardly so clear cut.
Other experts say the debate is not so clear cut.
Some Western analysts argue that the situation was not so clear cut.
As play went, things are not so clear cut.
Better that the responsibility for the decision was so clear cut.
But perhaps the answer is not so clear cut.