Final answer:
The correct word to complete the sentence is 'evasive,' which suggests that the candidate's answers at the press conference were intentionally unclear, avoiding clear facts or specifics.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sentence, "The answers that the candidate gave at the press conference were rambling and _____ but contained practically no hard information," needs a word that conveys the idea that the responses were not clear or direct, possibly intentionally avoiding the real issues. Considering the context given, where the statements are described as 'inadequate to the facts,' 'highly confused,' 'mixed with error and nonsense,' and 'subject to change in time,' the most suitable word to fill in the blank is evasive. The term evasive implies that the candidate's answers were deliberately vague or ambiguous to avoid providing clear facts or being pinned down to specific details. Therefore, the full sentence should read: "The answers that the candidate gave at the press conference were rambling and evasive but contained practically no hard information."