What's a word that means to force something to fit?

Is there a verb that means the act of forcing a square peg into a round hole, so to speak? More specifically, in my case I'm facetiously suggesting that we take an absurd notion and try to fit the facts to the assertion.

What's a teensy bit harder to ____ [about/to/for] this assertion is [contradictory evidence].

The best I've come up with are reconcile and rectify, but those have more to do with our response to these facts than the act of mashing them into a space in which they cannot fit in the first place.

Explain away works, but I'd rather have a single word, if possible.

Conform is probably the most exact word I've found for what I mean, but doesn't fit into my sentence structure, and it's not particularly playful.

If I cant find a single word, I'll probably just use...

What's a teensy bit harder to square-peg into this round-hole assertion is [contradictory evidence].

...as it fits the playful, sarcastic tone, but again, I'd rather have a single word if possible.

You jam a square peg into a round hole. Oxford:

Push (something) roughly and forcibly into position or a space.

How about square (M-W): to set right : bring into agreement

Your example sentence:

What's a teensy bit harder to square with this assertion is [contradictory evidence].

In addition to being a single word that captures the sense I believe you're seeking, square picks up the square in your analogy of the [contradictory evidence] to a square peg.