I can be heavy, but I'll never sink. When I am ready, my glass is a drink

Question

Riley Riddle:

My prefix runs past,
When you leave what you cast,
Where a square may be skipped by a pawn.

My suffix is vast,
When I swap first with last,
Where a breath may be currently drawn.

My infix is fast,
When it thinks in a blast,
Where a net may be used thereupon.

I am certainly classed,
As a type of forecast,
With a rumble in shields and my spawn.

What am I?

I don't mean to boast, but I found this riddle so romantic, I even cried.

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Not part of the riddle:

Apparently my title appears to be subjective and so this question is likely to be closed. If you agree, I will change the title. This will also be my final riddle for a couple of days because I need to focus on my school musical and tests. $$$$ Edit:

@PerpetualJ was awarded a $+50$ reputation bounty.
@NicolásMango was awarded a $+100$ reputation bounty.

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Hint 1:

I might wear a bow,
Where in grey it will glow,
When I fall from the head to the toe.

My coat is yellow,
Where the classic shall know,
When the keeper feels splashes below.

Bonus if (and only if!) you read Hint 1:

Two colours are heard,
Though my bow has a third,
So as to what name shall this be referred?

There are seven to choose,
Mainly caught in the blues,
So reflect, what indicated the shoes?

Hint 2:

^{Written from my own perspective; the following inclusive language refers not to the answer, but to me, @MrPie.}
Riddle me this:
Alone and in bliss,
I cast myself,
Not unlike yourself.

A short soldier walks.
When in front, it blocks.
But it starts to run,
When it skips just one.

Desiring a breath,
I will live until death,
But a breath of what?
It is felt but not sought.

A net meets the eye,
On light like the sky,
But it might not be mine.
How might you define?

Suffix Hint (_{^{@PerpetualJ requested a hint on the suffix, and perhaps like-minded users would want one, too}}):

You feel the suffix on your flesh,
When outside, smelly or fresh.
It might be warm or rather cool;
Although not a liquid, it is a fuel.

Shoes Hint (_{^{this is the only part that requires knowledge, for which I felt the need to write this after looking at @Elpharya's answer}}):

The shoes are not ruby nor magic,
Where clicking them thrice is but tragic.
Explore below, not somewhere over,
Where the keeper does not hold a clover.

Answer 1

Feedback to the Poster

I really enjoyed this puzzle, and have enjoyed looking for the answers. The finesse of your rhyming was quite impeccable! You definitely have my up-vote here! You should consider submitting this to a puzzle challenge similar to the local newspaper where I live. They hold weekly challenges allowing the community to compete for a spot in the paper! You'd definitely win with this one!

My Answer

Rain

I wasn't able to find a 100% representation for it without going into a unique perspective. I really look forward to the poster's Making Of answer.

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Prefix: This is a tough one, but it fits perfectly.

Ran is past, without what you cast; a pawn skips one when it starts.

My prefix runs past: And I ran, I ran so far away. 10 points if you name the song.
When you leave what you cast: Remove the letter I.
Where a square may be skipped by a pawn: This is a reference to how a pawn can move either one or two squares forward for it's opening movement. This can also be a reference to En Passant which literally translates to in passing, alternatively run past; this is a move in which a pawn can capture another pawn under specific criteria; see my interesting finds section.

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Infix: Quite simple unless you're overthinking it like most of us initially did.

AI is fast, in processing a blast; and casts a net from its heart.

My infix is fast: AI operates quickly.
*When it thinks in a blast: AI thinks the same way humans do by creating blasts in their “brains” like neurons firing off.
Where a net may be used thereupon: Heuristic algorithms (heavily used in AI development) are analogous to nets as they try many different paths, finding the path of least resistance with the most accuracy and learning along the way. Although, another analogy can be made here to the internet as a whole, which can be used to run AI; although I don't believe in the cloud, it's just someone else's computer. :)

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Suffix: The middle line to this stanza throws everyone off, but it was probably phrased that way for rhyming's sake.

Air is vast, is quite a gas; this riddle is ingeniously smart.

My suffix is vast: Air is everywhere and as such is quite vast.
When I swap first with last: More than first and last, but none the less.
Where a breath may be currently drawn: You breathe air.

I think I would have rephrased this a little to be more accurate; though, it was a great riddle.
My suffix is vast,
Reordered out last (eventually someone will realize to drop the n),
Where a breath may be currently drawn.

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The Hints

Hint 1: This definitely fits all criteria in the riddle and retains the same prefix.

Yellow in color; but known as another; a raincoat this seems to be.

Hint 2: This was a dead giveaway!

Rain you seek, it took not a week; but an acrostic gave this to me.

Suffix Hint: This took a while to solve when coupled with the riddle.

Air is warm, and rather cool; a fuel for life unseen.

Air is the basis of all life; well, oxygen is anyways. The air you breathe is indeed a fuel for your body to keep going, without it, you will die. The hard part in finding this was swapping first with last. You actually have to remove the last letter, and reorder what's left.

Shoes Hint: It would seem that most are referring to Dorothy and her ruby red slippers (not shoes). I believe this is referring to:

Rainboots below, in rain and snow; keep your feet dry all the same.

I believe this is in reference to hint 1 and the bonus. Granted, I don't think it has anything to do with the color references, just When the keeper feels splashes below and So reflect, what indicated the shoes?.

Bonus: Again meets all the criteria (same prefix as well).

Silver and gold, as time has foretold; a rainbow the future will bring.
Indigo the color, unlike no other; found through blues in-between.

This is in reference to indigo being a shade of blue between the other two blue hues (blue and violet). The colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I actually forgot the exact colors involved and had to look it up.

Interesting Finds

I have found a few cool things while searching for the answer. I figure I'll share these with the community in the hopes that you all enjoy them too!

• Thundersnow - It rarely occurs, but it is a snow storm accompanied by thunder and lightning.
• Squall Line - A narrow band of high winds and storms associated with a cold front. We see these a lot where I live!
• The acrostic for each stanza seems to follow the pattern of MWW; this was interesting and beautifully crafted! I love the flow of the My, When, Where pattern. The puzzle as a whole (including hints and bonus) only deviates from this occasionally.
• Dark ’N’ Stormy - This is a type of alcoholic drink, definitely did not know this; I'm more of old fashioned, on the rocks.
• En Passant (Credit to Cubemaster) - En Passant (in passing, run past, or by the way) is a movement in which a pawn can capture a pawn abreast itself that made a opening two step movement. This is the case when a pawn at D7 moves to D5, an enemy pawn on E5 can capture by moving to D6.
• Pawn Promotion - Pawn promotion allows a pawn to technically skip squares once promoted to a rook, knight, bishop, or queen. This is more of lateral thinking.
• Opening Movements - There is a special movement for pawns where they can move two squares instead of one, so long as it is their first movement.

Answer 2

Prefix

My prefix runs past, 
When you leave what you cast, 
Where a square may be skipped by a pawn.

RAN. Based on @PerpetualJ answer: It makes sense, since the pawn "runs" when it moves two squares and it is the past tense of run.

Infix

My infix is fast, 
When it thinks in a blast, 
Where a net may be used thereupon.

AI. An Artificial Intelligence is usually fast and a net (Internet) may be used to improve it or to run it.

Suffix

My suffix is vast, 
When I swap first with last,
Where a breath may be currently drawn.

-Hint

You feel the suffix on your flesh, 
When outside, smelly or fresh. 
It might be warm or rather cool; 
Although not a liquid, it is a fuel.

AIR. Air is one of our "fuels", which we breath. It can be smelly, fresh, warm and/or cool.

Answer

We have RAN, AI and AIR. All of which forms Rain when arranged with a certain pattern I have not deciphered yet. Rain has bows (rainbows), has coats (raincoats) and is a type of forecast. It can be heavy and, when ready (when it "becomes water", as it's no longer rain), it is now a glass of water or a drink. As @user477343 said: RAIN is not the prefix. But it actually is the answer.

Bonus

Indigo. One uses shoes to go somewhere, so the shoes indicated to go. It's also a color in the blue spectrum, between violet and blue in a rainbow.

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MISC

The answer is actually the initials of the first paragraph of Hint 2. Clever :)

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Answer 3

Is this

Entrainment? Wikipedia describes this an atmoshperic phenomenon

Prefix

I believe the move to skip a pawn is called En Passant, so EN

Infix

Trains can be pretty fast, and they burn a fuel source to move

Suffix

Not one hundred percent on this part

I'm pretty sure I'm not at the right answer, but figured it was worth a shot

Answer 4

A try at the bonus:

Two colours are heard

which is Blue (below) and Yellow (Hint 1)

Though my bow has a third,
So as to what name shall this be referred?

There are seven to choose,
Mainly caught in the blues,
So reflect, what indicated the shoes?

I think the colour of the bow is RED. The shoes in the last line refer to Dorothy's red shoes (from Wizard of Oz), and in the film she also sings "Over the Rainbow", which seems a fitting topic.
Another note is that with red, it seems all three colours are primary

Answer 5

-Partial answer-

Is the prefix

Rain?

Since

Rain is a kind of forecast, there are rainbows, and raincoats are yellow.

I can't seem to figure out the rest of it :/

Answer 6

Partial Answer

Just some notes on possible solutions to clues.

The first stanza sounds like it may be referring to chess towards the end, and there is a move known as "en passant" that allows pawns to do some funky stuff with skipping squares and capturing pawns. Might have something to do with that.

Also, the hints seem to be certainly talking about a

Rainbow.

Because:

There are seven to choose,
Mainly caught in the blues,
So reflect, what indicated the shoes?

7 Colors on the spectrum, blue is the wavelength caught by the sky

Next possibility:

The last stanza of the second hint might be talking about leprechauns and gold. Leprechauns are the "keeper" of the gold, and are a pretty classic creature. So maybe that is what is being referenced?

Based on the Title:

It might be some sort of cloud. They can weigh millions of pounds, but they stay afloat. Not sure of the latter half of the title, but might refer to rain. Maybe something like "cumulonimbus", as those are storm clouds. Or maybe "Nimbostratus" or "thunderhead"