Responding to criticism that the script was rambling and (i)_____, the new screenwriter revised the dialogue for greater succinctness and (ii)_____.
Key words are here rambling and succinctness. So the answers should be synonyms of the key words.
In the first option it would be muddle as it's the closest in meaning to the ramble.
In the second option clarity is synonym to the succinctness.

this is a very simple text completion sentence, the answer to the first blank is the synonym of rambling and the second blank the synonym of succinct. We also understand that there is shift in the idea between the two parts of the sentence.

Not the hardest of the questions that I have encountered in this forum

The word to notice before choosing the options are rambling which means long and digressing so select its synonym - terse means short which is opposite so can be eliminated, the script surely can not be engaging as it was criticised. So muddle is a good option here.

The next word that needs to be noticed is succitness which means to be more clear or elucidate so clarity fits in well here.


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