あからさま: difference with 明らか and its connotation


I was working on a mock JLPT question requiring me to choose one best option
where `あからさま` is used correctly:

> １ お酒を飲んだので顔があからさまになっている。  
>  ２ あの勝負はあからさまな八百長だ。  
>  ３ 言い訳をしても事実はあからさまだ。  
>  ４ この料理はあからさまに美味しい。  
>

I think options 1 and 4 are off the table. I chose option 3, but the correct
answer turned out to be option 2.

`あからさま` reminds me of `明らか` but I fail to grasp their difference. I looked up
the definitions:

> **あからさま** 包み隠さず、明らかなさま。また、露骨なさま。  
>  **明らか** はっきりとしていて疑う余地のないさま。明白なさま。

Option 2 seems to say 'That match was an obvious/undisguised set-up.'

Option 3, if used `明らか` instead, probably means 'Even you come up with
excuses, the truth is clear/obvious.' Which also makes sense (to me),
especially when the definition of `あからさま` equated it with `明らか`, so I don't
exactly understand why `あからさま` is wrong here. Must `あからさま` suggest something
_bad_ is out in the open, like option 2?

**My questions:**

  * **Why can't`あからさま` be used in option 3, and can `明らか` be used in options 2 and 3?**
  * **How do I properly differentiate between`あからさま` and `明らか`?**
  * **Is there a positive, negative, or neutral connotation to`あからさま` and `明らか`?**




あからさま is used to describe obvious or undisguised manners in which someone does
something or shows some emotion. It’s mostly interchangeable with 露骨.

Here are some examples.

> 彼はあからさまに嫌な顔をした。

> 彼のあからさまな差別にはうんざりする。

It doesn’t go well with 事実 because a truth is not something you do in an
obvious way.

明らかな八百長 is a fix that seems obvious (in a more or less neutral sense), while
あからさまな八百長 is one carried out in a blatant manner.




あからさま is used to describe obvious or undisguised manners in which someone does
something or shows some emotion. It’s mostly interchangeable with 露骨.

Here are some examples.

> 彼はあからさまに嫌な顔をした。

> 彼のあからさまな差別にはうんざりする。

It doesn’t go well with 事実 because a truth is not something you do in an
obvious way.

明らかな八百長 is a fix that seems obvious (in a more or less neutral sense), while
あからさまな八百長 is one carried out in a blatant manner.

