細工: delicate work on silver and trickery with numbers
Compare 細工 as delicate work on a silver plate with a trick that falsifies numbers and is quickly exposed, following the object and action.
Delicate work on a silver plate
「職人が銀の板に細かな細工を施した。」 means “The craftsperson did delicate work on the silver plate.” 細工（さいく） means craftwork here. 職人 is the craftsperson doing the work, and 銀の板に identifies the silver plate on which the delicate work was done.
細かな細工を施した describes carrying out delicate work. It does not specify an engraving or carving method, identify who made the plate itself, or give a production time for the plate.
Trickery that falsifies numbers and is exposed
「数字をごまかす細工はすぐに見破られた。」 means “The trick of falsifying the numbers was quickly exposed.” 数字をごまかす identifies this 細工 as a manipulation intended to falsify numbers. Its object and action differ from the delicate physical work on the silver plate.
すぐに見破られた is the passive statement that the trick was quickly exposed. The person who exposed it is not identified, and the sentence does not extend that exposure into a completed verdict or punishment.
Choosing the sense through the object and modifier
銀の板に細かな細工 focuses on delicate physical work on silver. 数字をごまかす細工 focuses on a deceitful manipulation of numbers, so the surrounding object and modifier select the sense of the same word.
施した supplies the craftsperson’s action, while 見破られた supplies the exposure of the numerical trick. The word 細工 alone does not turn the craftsperson’s work into deceit or reduce falsifying numbers to decoration.
How do the object and meaning of 細工 differ in 職人が銀の板に細かな細工を施した and 数字をごまかす細工はすぐに見破られた?
Show the answer and why
The first is delicate craftwork on the silver plate; the second is a manipulation that falsifies numbers. Neither sentence supplies a particular engraving method, the person who exposed the trick, or a completed punishment.