Rife with contention, critical, seasoned practitioners.

This sentence is itself rife with ambiguity, so the best way to tackle it is to hunt down the most revealing clue words. Arguably the most important giveaway word in the whole two sentences is the word gospel, which is itself tricky because its primary definition has religious connotations. In fact, a secondary definition of gospel is “accepted fact,” or “agreed-upon truth.” Another crucial word is tenet, which also signifies an “accepted principle.” Finally, the word even is an important pivot that informs you of the relationship between these words and the second blank, which is where you should start. Even tells you that you should be surprised. You should be surprised that certain tenets that some might deem ______ are not accepted as gospel. In other words, the blank should signify something crucial, or critical, to the general philosophy of psychoanalysis. Moving to the third blank, you see another “even,” once again indicating something contrary to expectation. You would expect the people very experienced in the field, or the most seasoned practitioners, to subscribe most strongly to the central tenets of the field. Now return to the first blank. You learned in the second sentence that there is disagreement in the field, even between the most experienced practitioners, about the fundamental tenets of the practice of psychoanalysis. In other words, the field is subject to great debate, or rife with contention.

Floes.
The blank agrees with the clue “melting ice,” thus floes, a synonym for glaciers, is correct. Trap answer dirges relates to “lamented” but is not what is decreasing in Greenland.

Casual nonchalance, farce.

If the clerk treats his “office” (a fancy way to say his “job”) with a general lack of respect, then he treats his clients with a similarly cool and distant manner, a manner of casual nonchalance. Note that the other two possibilities do not fit at all (meticulousness would be positive, and envy is not indicated by the sentence). As for the second blank, knowing that “grand farce” is a common English idiom is helpful but is not essential—the word farce, or “mockery,” is the only word that fits. A grand gesture would be positive (a grand gesture would be something like an elaborate marriage proposal, apology, etc.), and there is no clue that the clerk is making a tirade, or angry speech, nor does it make sense to treat one’s entire job like a tirade.

An exhaustive, remarkable variance.

The blank structure for this problem is tricky; in such cases you need to pay attention to the specific words in the sentence that give hints to the meanings of the blanks. For the first blank, you are looking for a modifier to “comprehension.” This “comprehension,” you learn, is impeded… by labyrinthine complexities. In other words, total, or exhaustive, comprehension is difficult because of these complexities. For the second blank, the key word is “reliable.” The relation of this word to the blank is given by “even the most,” telling you that these vintages are subject to something opposite to “reliable” — that is, remarkable variance.

Draconian.

Belied means “contradict” or “be at odds with.” Thus, the boss’s on-the-job style is contradicted by his “amiable,” or “warm, friendly” style in the interview. You also have the clue that the young hire (the new employee) experiences “chagrin,” which is “mental distress or unease.” Draconian, which means “harsh, strict, or severe,” is best. Don’t be confused by nonplussed, the primary meaning of which is “confused” or “surprised” — it doesn’t capture the boss’s strictness.

Acerbic.

Crucial to this question is the word chary, which is essentially synonymous with wary. If the pundit is worried about appearing something, it is probably the opposite of what he or she actually does, which is be “diplomatic.” You’re thus looking for an anonym for “diplomatic.” Acerbic, which means “scathing or bitter,” is best.

Costive, dotage, doctrinaire.

You have a couple of clues for the meaning of the first word. It is paired with “uncommunicative” and seems to mean something like “slow to think.” Only costive among our choices means anything like that. Its original meaning, “constipated,” is still current, but the word is as likely to be used metaphorically to mean “slow to form or offer opinions.” Skip the middle word for a moment, and hope that you can spot some clue for it in figuring out the third word — the third word seems to mean “dogmatic,” and doctrinaire will do. You may not have much success anticipating an answer for your second blank, but fortunately two of the available answers are exceptionally bad matches — jouissance means “joy,” and quiescence means something like “rest” or “being at rest.” Nothing suggests either of these answers. Dotage means that period of old age when one’s mental faculties decline (it can also mean “foolishness,” especially foolish affection, regardless of age). This is the second correct answer: the editor was young, and is now old and foolish.

Attest to, quotidian.

Just as… so too… suggests that the mainstream novels show a gift, just as the sciencefiction novels do. The first word should mean something like “show,” or “display.” Among these answers, only attest has that meaning. Incorrect choices belie and gainsay both indicate an opposite direction, which is incorrect, since the just as… so too… structure indicates same direction. The second word should describe the world of mainstream, rather than science-fiction, novels. You want a word that means “not fantastic,” “ordinary,” “everyday.” Quotidian has just that meaning.

Nominally, indifferent, common cause.

“In fact” suggests that Russia did not have the same concern for the security of France and Great Britain as one would expect of an ally. For the first blank, we’d like a word that describes a not-fully-committed ally, and for the second blank, we’d like a word that means “not concerned.” Nominally works for the first word, as it means “in name (only).” Indif erent works for the second, as it means that Russia didn’t really care. The “but” that introduces the last clause tells you that Churchill argued that Russia would act as an ally, albeit only for its own national reasons. To make common cause is to act as an ally.

Mordant, disquieted.

The first word should match “bitter and ironic,” and the second evidently means something like “uncomfortable.”