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Facetiously I now pose you this question,

Confuse you, and I do so with a smirk.

The answer open to much speculation

You won't find palindromes in this short work.

What word is longest in its category?

Charms nurse and lexicography fan both?

It can't be found in ev'ry other story

'Does it exist?' I won't answer under oath

Solve this enigma - quick! - and do not linger,

Do not redo, let each one stay sporadic,

Dig down, and scrape, to find under your finger,

The word I want is _________________

Complete the poem by adding a word. What do you add, and why does this complete the poem?

Hint 1:

Count the number of syllables in each line. The last line is sure to repeat this pattern...

Hint 2:

The rhyme pattern repeats up to the last word.

Hint 3:

There are some other words in this rhyme which also lie in the same category...

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1 Answer 1

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The word I want is

Subdermatoglyphic

Because

This is the longest word with no letter repeating

Reasoning

I think all of the words in this poem have the property that no letter is repeated. This is unusual, especially for having so many long words like facetiously, palindromes, lexicography, etc, and there is an avoidance to repeat a letter in general (notice ev'ry).

As Avi pointed out in the comments the definition also fits nicely with "to find under your finger".

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  • $\begingroup$ Very close, but your solution doesn't quite rhyme and has only five syllables (which doesn't fit the stanza). $\endgroup$
    – Alexander Geldhof
    Commented Nov 1, 2019 at 15:35
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    $\begingroup$ @AlexanderGeldhof Apologies, I had thought this to be the longest but some sources seem to suggest a longer word. I've just edited to include this. $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Nov 1, 2019 at 15:38
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    $\begingroup$ Also fits "to find under your finger", nice! $\endgroup$
    – Avi
    Commented Nov 1, 2019 at 15:39
  • $\begingroup$ @Avi yes, nicely spotted! $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Nov 1, 2019 at 15:41

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