"be difficult to untangle" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It can be used when describing a complex or confusing situation, task, or problem that is not easy to understand or resolve. Example: "The web of lies she had woven was so intricate, it would be difficult to untangle the truth from the lies."
That is because the company has such enormous and complex pension obligations and corporate overhead that it would be difficult to untangle them and sell properties individually.
Furthermore, the complex interrelationships between these criticisms of Alexander's theory are said to be difficult to untangle without a significant loss of meaning (Dovey 1990), and thus the following discussion represents only one possible mapping of these criticisms and their relationships.
The complexities of daily life can be difficult to untangle and comprehend, and the fog of helplessness can seem impenetrable and exhausting.
Firstly, therefore, in the patient who has undergone radiotherapy, it may be difficult to untangle the relative contribution of psychological and physical damage to bowel function.
The high familial risk may be the product of shared childhood environment and heritable causes and so may be difficult to untangle.
Thus, the associations between OP exposure and infant neurobehavior may be difficult to untangle from the added benefits of higher SES and improved nutrition.
It's difficult to untangle how cultural and economic pressures or biological hard-wiring influence parenting.
Further confusing much of the research into coffee is the fact that many coffee drinkers are also smokers, and it has been difficult to untangle the relative health effects of coffee and cigarettes.
And while it is difficult to untangle precisely the impact of transportation on real estate, Dr. Hughes said that for a year or two before Midtown Direct started, price increases for real estate in the string of suburbs served by Midtown Direct outstripped those in New Jersey communities elsewhere.
Nevertheless, the scholars who do engage with the theory have identified substantial flaws, many of which are difficult to untangle without a substantial loss of meaning (Dovey 1990).
