Verbal Reasoning - Same Meaning 4

An octagenarian is one in their eighties, and this present example is a person a decade older than that

'Deflate' is the opposite of 'inflate' (to pump up with air, such as with a balloon): the image is of someone who has had all the breath, energy, or 'fiber' or 'stuffing' knocked out of them, probably by hearing bad financial or family news

'Convalescence' comes from three Latin word-elements: 'con'- meaning 'together' (here, as in 'coming back into one healthy piece'); the 'val' as in 'value' and 'valid', suggesting being fit for purpose; and the '-scence' element, suggesting a process of change (such as 'adolescence'). Taken as a whole, it means 'a time and process of getting oneself back together into a normal state'.
This is not the same as 'healing' (Answer 1) which suggests outside input in the form of medical attention, pills and potions etc (though these might perfectly well also be involved). A sensible amount of seclusion (Answers 3 & 4) may well also be reasonable to help the process along without putting further strain on the patient; but that doesn't mean that these are the same thing

'Perfunctory' = as swift as possible, for the sake of official procedure, but with little sign of genuine respect or commitment to the traditional formalities

'Suave' = smooth in speech and manner (possibly a little bit too much so for comfort; as though one might have doubts about trusting them)

'Residual' = still present (like the scent of long-gone domestic fireplace smoke on ancient books, sheet music or other documents). It has nothing to do with 'resin', nor (at all directly) with the idea of a new 'residence' as such

The Stoics were a group of classical philosophers who believed it noble to tolerate life's difficulties without complaining to other people about them. Someone who has been very ill may well have wanted to moan (literally, and otherwise) but perhaps felt it was better 'to suffer in relative silence' instead of making those near to them even more miserable about the situation. Often the word is now used in the sense that the person is almost too heroic for their own good, and could have done with 'letting it all out a bit more' and sharing.
A true Stoic may have suffered in noble silence, but would have felt no need to go so far as to show any (probably false) 'good humor' instead (Answer 3)

Occasionally people still refer to 'a lock of hair' (perhaps as a memento of a lover, or of someone who has gone away): the plural is 'locks' as one wold expect. This has nothing at all to do with the 'security' sense of 'lock', nor the mechanism for moving boats and water between different levels on a canal or river

'Trans-' in Latin means 'across' (as in Translation and Transport); the '-mut-' element suggests change, as in a Commuter (shuttling back and forth between home and work), or 'mutants' and 'mutations' (things that have changed from the original version). 'Transmuting' means 'changing over'. Alchemists believed there was a wonderful secret to this process, in the days before the true chemical and atomic nature of the elements had been established. We now know this was only ever a fool's errand!

'A profusion' of anything simply means a great quantity, as though the substance had melted or been poured out.
'Clumps' is probably true in this particular context, but is almost too specific and would not work in some other situations, e.g. a profusion of new road-signs