For the first blank, we need something that means "would not compromise in any way" or obdurate. The clue for the second blank is "take a break.... for another day." "Table" in this sense means to save a decision or action for another time. Don't forget that many everyday words like "table" have secondary meanings; tests loves to ask these!

Since the "other candidate's campaign never got off the ground," we expect that the incumbent's win would be "inevitable" or ineluctable. Since the win was not a surprise, the incumbent must have "faked" or feigned surprise at the results. 

For the first blank, we're looking for something that means go back on or "renege." For the second blank, we need something that means financially sound or "solvent."

For the first blank, we need something that means unable to be appeased or "implacable." For the second blank we're looking for something that means soothe. "Mollify" is a good fit. 

"Buoyantly, warm" is a trap to try to get you to choose a seemingly close, "practice list" word—buoyant—with "warm," luring you because of the apparent connection to the sun rays.  Likewise, "ceaselessly . . . fleeting" tries to trap you into overthinking the answer. The sense of the sentence wants you to consider the calmness of the waves because of the key word "lulling;" therefore, the best answer is "placidly" (calmly) and "undulating" (moving like a wave—with the overtone of gentleness, though not necessarily).

Several of these options are tempting. Perhaps "amorous" and "joyfully" seem to make sense, as does "tedious" and "lovingly." The key phrase, though, is "often overwhelming."  This indicates that the perseverance is more than a minor affair of "pushing along;"  therefore, it would be best to have a word to capture a certain tenacity in this regard.  "Rapaciously" does not really fit the bill for this, but "doggedly" does. Likewise, "connubial" means related to marriage and thus fits the fact that the duties are "of" the life-long commitment. That is, they are "of a marital nature" (or at least related thereto).

The man most likely did not follow the rules of high etiquette, or behaved indecorously. The dinner guests, on the other hand, seem to over-value the rules of politeness, being prudish.

For the first blank, we need an adjective that means something like "young," because the owls don't lose their striped down until they're a year old. Possible choices include "fledgling" ("relating to a young bird") and "juvenile" ("of, for, or relating to someone or something young"). For the second blank, we need a word that means "striped;" since "striated" means "striped" and "pedantic" means "narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned," "striated" is the better choice, and the answer is "fledgling, striated."

Here we have a contrast: there aren't any clue to what the words are, but they should be opposites. The best fit is "decorous" and "boorish"—the first meaning "characterized by proper manners" and the latter "unmannered and crude."

From the context, it would seem that Suzanne has a rather innocent and naïve personality. (She misses even the most well known scoundrels.) Now, we might call the liar "notable," but in this case, "forgiving" does not completely fit as well as does the correct answer. "Mendacious" does in a sense reduplicate the sense of lying, but in so doing, it strengthens the indictment against such persons. Particularly, "ingenuous" captures Suzanne's innocent and unsuspecting personality.