To confuse or bewilder someone, to baffle or mystify someone, often to divert attention or conceal the truth.
記者の質問に彼は細かい話で煙に巻いた。
He muddled the reporters with petty details and confused them.
面接で答えをはぐらかして、面接官を煙に巻いた。
He dodged the answers in the interview and left the interviewer puzzled.
彼はいつも交渉のときに言葉で相手を煙に巻く。
He always uses words to baffle the other party during negotiations.