OE


Sleight of hand, ostensible. The ambassador is “double-dealing” (duplicitous) and “backpedaling” (retreating from a position). A good fit in the first blank would be something like “deceitfulness,” so sleight of hand (skillful deception) works. There is no indication that the ambassador had political plutocracy (government by the wealthy) or political bugaboo (something causing fear). The Australian counterpart is straightforward, and compares favorably with the ambassador mentioned first, so expect a positive adjective that can describe “straightforwardness” for the second blank. Occlusive (tending to close off) would conflict with being straightforward, and intransigent (uncompromising, obstinate) is too negative. Only ostensible (supposedly true, but not necessarily true) is neither too negative nor at odds with any clue, and works in a sentence about how politicians "looked,” not necessarily about how they really were