create
diversion
This story in the newspapers is just an attempt by the government to create a diversion from the issues facing the country.
He created a diversion by asking the guard for a cigarette, which allowed me to slip past unnoticed.
The police think that the fire was an attempt to create a diversion.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Creating a distraction
distract
distract attention from something
distract someone from something
distracting
distractingly
diversion
diversionary tactic
divert
divert attention from something
escape
mind
misdirection
put
put someone off their strideidiom
rabbit hole
sidetrack
smoke and mirrors
stride
subject
take someone out of himself/herself