What is another word for excuse?

alibi, apology, cleanup, cop-out, cover, cover story, cover-up, defense, disguise, evasion, expedient, explanation, extenuation, fish, fish story, grounds, jive, justification, makeshift, mitigation, plea, pretext, rationalization, regrets, routine, semblance, shift, song, stall, stopgap, story, substitute, subterfuge, trick, vindication, whitewash alibi, reason, justification, rationalization, etc.