cover story
1. A story that is deemed important enough (or scandalous enough) to be featured on the cover of a magazine. If those two celebrities are getting divorced, that has to be our cover story this week.
2. The story that one tells as an alibi, even though it is untrue. Our cover story is that we had car trouble and that's why we're coming home past curfew, OK?
cover story
1. A featured story in a magazine that concerns the illustration on the cover, as in The earthquake is this week's cover story for all the news magazines. [Mid-1900s]
2. A false story intended to mislead or deceive; also, an alibi. For example, Their cover story while investigating local repair services was that they had just bought the house and were having problems, or The suspect gave the police some cover story about being held up . [Mid-1900s]