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Fill in the blank at the end of the poem with the obvious answer!!

Billy stole Doc’s red horse

And took him for a ride

Doc caught up with him

And took him to the side

But then Billy stole Doc’s girl

And did the girl the same

And hurt old Doc’s fragile pride

then Pat came after them (Billy and Doc) with a man

Who was to kill young Billy dead

But Billy won that draw instead

Doc said “I never even seen you draw!”

“So when did you take aim?”

Billy smiled and nodded as he said

“Doc, I thought you knew”

“__5 words go here_________________”

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  • $\begingroup$ What's with the rhyme tag? There isn't much rhyme here only "ride, side, pride" and "dead, instead, said" and the pattern is very irregular. It might be completely coincidental or is that actually a clue? $\endgroup$
    – Octopus
    Oct 25, 2017 at 18:40
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    $\begingroup$ @Octopus Ahhhh. The rhyme is critical for the last few lines at least. I apologize for being an absolutely atrocious poet. I gave it my best shot at being a poem. I can pull the tag if it is too far from being poetry/rhyming... $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 25, 2017 at 18:49
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    $\begingroup$ Who's Pat? Is that meant to be "Doc" or is that a new character? Or is that intentionally put that way? $\endgroup$
    – Hawkeye
    Oct 25, 2017 at 20:13
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    $\begingroup$ @Hawkeye Pat is Pat Garrett, he was one of Doc Holiday's friends. At one time he tried to lock Doc and Billy the Kid up. I guess you had to be there $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 25, 2017 at 20:41
  • $\begingroup$ Ah, I've bit of a gap in my history knowledge around there. Sorry for the dumb question. =D $\endgroup$
    – Hawkeye
    Oct 25, 2017 at 21:02

3 Answers 3

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Okay, I have another answer.

Doc has commented that Billy drew so fast that he had no time to aim.

Billy's reply back is "Doc, I thought you knew, I aimed before I drew!"

Reasoning:

It fits the word count, it rhymes, and it answers the title that he aimed before he drew. Also it fits the description as an obvious answer. Billy is giving a witty reply that "I aimed before I drew."

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  • $\begingroup$ I am going to give you credit for the answer because you are so. Close although not exactly right in the logical sense. The correct answer is only a tiny bit different from yours and will make you laugh when you see it. I will edit it into your answer. $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 28, 2017 at 19:35
  • $\begingroup$ @Drt Okay, I see. Yeah, that is the best wording. I approved your edit, but it formatted differently than I think was intended, so I edited the answer again to incorporate your correction to the answer and your explanation in the reasoning. Thanks! This was a fun one. =) $\endgroup$
    – Hawkeye
    Oct 28, 2017 at 22:14
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I'm almost sure this isn't the answer, but it was the answer I automatically thought of and it feels like it fits. But until I can think of a better answer I would say:

Billy smiled and nodded as he said “Doc, I thought you knew, the man was already dead.”

Reason 1

Irony

Reason 2

Word count

Reason 3

It rhymes

Reason 4

Because he thought the doc knew --it being obvious the man was dead. It doesn't say the man was alive. Billy could have killed him a while ago, Pat could have killed him, or it could just be a way to say the man had no chance and he drew faster than he could see. Expanding on the idea Billy killed him earlier: it doesn't say when the man tried to kill Billy nor does it say when the draw happened, so that exchange could have happened much earlier, and Pat just brought the body.

Reason 5

You said it was an obvious answer, which makes me think it would be an intuitive answer, noticing the ryhme, irony and word count.

Then I suppose the answer to the question in the title is:

Billy took aim before the man arrived, and Pat just brought the body.

Or

It's a trick question and Billy never actually took aim because someone else killed him.

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  • $\begingroup$ Yes to your Reason 5...especially to the 'obvious', the 'intuitive', the 'rhyme' and 'word count' with respect to the answer fitting the space allotted...When MUST Billy have taken aim? $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 26, 2017 at 21:02
  • $\begingroup$ @Drt Okay, I added to my answer regarding the title. If that's not what you were looking for, then I'm still chewing on it. =) $\endgroup$
    – Hawkeye
    Oct 26, 2017 at 22:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Drt I expanded Reason 4 a little to incorporate the explanation of the title. $\endgroup$
    – Hawkeye
    Oct 27, 2017 at 19:15
  • $\begingroup$ I like this - but I think the answer is going to rhyme with "aim" and not "said" $\endgroup$
    – Adam
    Oct 27, 2017 at 23:17
  • $\begingroup$ @Adam Yeah, I've not found anything that seems to work yet, but I'm still chewing on it. $\endgroup$
    – Hawkeye
    Oct 28, 2017 at 7:05
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The last line:

"I took aim before you"

Explanation:

Doc was the man he was dueling. Although Billy drew first, Doc didn't die in the shooting. It also has another meaning: "I took aim AT you."

So when did Billy take aim?

Before Doc did.

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  • $\begingroup$ The poem states that Pat sent a man after Billy and Doc and Billy shot him. Doc commented to Billy that he drew too fast to have time to aim. Billy commented back an explanation of when he aimed. $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 28, 2017 at 19:43
  • $\begingroup$ Gotcha. I thought "came after them" referred to Billy and Doc's girl. I was thinking that the man Pat sent was Doc. And then Doc made that comment after Billy shot Doc. $\endgroup$
    – Tony Youngblood
    Oct 28, 2017 at 19:45
  • $\begingroup$ You were hot on the trail but Hawkeye made the breakthrough...close enough anyway. I edited the exact answer into his last answer. Check it out...it will make you smile. Supposed to be true. $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 28, 2017 at 19:49
  • $\begingroup$ I think Hawkeye needs to approve the edit. Right now his answer says it was last edited 23 minutes ago, and the edit history only shows his changes. $\endgroup$
    – Tony Youngblood
    Oct 28, 2017 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ I suspect he will approve it. I will edit my poem to clarify on your point. $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Oct 28, 2017 at 20:16

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