言い抜け (iinuke: evasion, an excuse) to say + to slip out
This is from Jim Breen’s online dictionary:
新入社員は初めての失敗をうまく言い抜けた。
Shinnyūshain wa hajimete no shippai o umaku iinuketa.
The new employee glossed over his first mistake.A breakdown of the other kanji used:
新入社員 (shinnyūshain: new employee)
new + to enter + company + employee
初めて (hajimete: for the first time)
失敗 (shippai: mistake, failure) to lose + failure