Ploy

The opposition party claimed that approving the bill by a vote late at night was a political ploy.

His ploy almost succeeded.

Tom's ploy almost succeeded.

Her ploy almost succeeded.

Other conservative critics said the children were victims of “politically correct teaching” and the campaign was a ploy to “weaponize children for political purposes.”

While life has regained some semblance of normalcy, many local residents say the withdrawal is nothing more than a public relations ploy aimed at countering international criticism of the reoccupation of land.

Near-synonyms: ruse, stratagem

The free T-shirt is really a ploy to get you inside to see their sales pitch.

'Bide here,' he says, 'and boil the wine till I return. This is a ploy of my own on which no man follows me.' And there was that in his face, as he spoke, which chilled the wildest, and left them well content to keep to the good claret and the saft seat, and let the daft laird go his own ways.

Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.