OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Unkempt, surprisingly deliberate.


The tricky blank structure masks what is ultimately a not-so-tricky word relationship: that of opposites. The clues for this relationship are the words "notwithstanding" and "if." The first part of the sentence says that in spite of the clutter of tools lying about, the studio was orderly. The part after the semicolon talks about the décor, and the idiomatic structure "if $\mathrm{X}, \mathrm{Y}$ " is used to show a similar contrast. The first blank must match "cluttered," and the second must match "orderly." The best match for cluttered is "unkempt," and the better match for orderly is "surprisingly deliberate," because something that is deliberate is not random and so must have a certain order to it. The words "dire" (dreadful or grim) and "arduous" (difficult) may describe the way some people feel about clutter, but do not describe a cluttered décor. Similarly, "unsophisticated" (simple) and "callous" (uncaring) do not describe an orderly décor.