paper over

British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to conceal (something controversial or unpleasant)

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paper over Idioms  

1. Also, paper over the cracks. Repair superficially, conceal, especially flaws. For example, He used some accounting gimmicks to paper over a deficit, or It was hardly a perfect settlement, but they decided to paper over the cracks. The German statesman Otto von Bismarck first used this analogy in a letter in 1865, and the first recorded example in English, in 1910, referred to it. The allusion is to covering cracked plaster with wallpaper, thereby improving its appearance but not the underlying defect.

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Example Sentences

A 4-1 scoreline more accurately reflects the cricket played, denies the opportunity to paper over the cracks and provides clarity for the way ahead.

From BBC

O'Neill just about managed to paper over the cracks of a club that has badly lost its way but all those fractures are so obvious now.

From BBC

The group set off from Westminster and walked to Great Ormond Street Hospital, wearing angel wings, where they handed the paper over before singing carols.

From BBC

Toner-Rodgers continued to work on the paper over the summer.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s not like those good manners and contrived niceties ever managed to paper over those divisions in the first place.

From Slate