17
$\begingroup$

Previous puzzle of this kind: #1

A bird without wing, body, feet or tail,
An invention am I who can effortlessly sail.
I am unlike my lowly brothers who only deliver mail;
Surging over the winds I am majestic without fail!

...Alas, that is a lie, I do have one shortcoming
In order to be useful to you I cannot be made thin.
Thanks a lot, you, you darned and cursed thing!
Now there are barriers I shan't break, oh, races I'll never win!

You say that there's a Wikipedia article for anything?
Find mine, then, and declare yourself this puzzle's king!

Hint 1:

My stability was an issue that my creators did see
That is the reason why they taught me to sweep.

Hint 2:

UFOs have a generic shape;
I do too, though not from space

Improve this question
$\endgroup$

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
5
+50
$\begingroup$

Are you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_wing

A bird without wing, body, feet or tail, An invention am I who can effortlessly sail.

Aircraft, plane or drone

I am unlike my lowly brothers who only deliver mail; Surging over the winds I am majestic without fail!

...Alas, that is a lie, I do have one shortcoming In order to be useful to you I cannot be made thin.

Needs to have room for engines, fuel, cabin inside the wing.

Thanks a lot, you, you darned and cursed thing! Now there are barriers I shan't break, oh, races I'll never win!

Will never break the sound barrier. Too thick to hold the equipment.

You say that there's a Wikipedia article for anything? Find mine, then, and declare yourself this puzzle's king!

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ Correct! Green checkmark and bounty are yours once you come up with a better explanation for the '...Alas' line. It's closely tied to the line directly after. $\endgroup$
    – kanoo
    Nov 19, 2018 at 19:44
  • $\begingroup$ Updated to explain correctly $\endgroup$
    – Instantsoup
    Nov 19, 2018 at 19:49
  • $\begingroup$ That has wings... (it’s even in the answer: “needs to have room for engines, fuel, cabin, inside the wing”) $\endgroup$
    – SPK.z
    Nov 19, 2018 at 21:15
3
$\begingroup$

Perhaps a

Kite?

Paragraph 1

Kites soar through the air but do not have the anatomical parts of a bird. They are also an invention.

and

Kites have many purposes, from recreation to meteorology to military. Maybe its 'brother' refers to the mail pigeon.

Paragraph 2

A kite needs ample wingspan to stay afloat. (cannot be thin)

The clues also kind of sound like a

Balloon, for mostly the same reasons.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Just looked at the previous wikipedia question and it seems like the correct solution is supposed to be decently obscure. $\endgroup$
    – 1848
    Nov 16, 2018 at 7:30
  • $\begingroup$ obscurity isn't the goal, but the 'random article' feature tends to make it so; I stuck with one of the least obscure ones I found. You're headed in the right direction, keep it up! $\endgroup$
    – kanoo
    Nov 16, 2018 at 14:51
3
$\begingroup$

Well, I took a decent sized shoehorn, and with its help, I worked on

HMS Warrior

until it seemed it might fit:

A bird without wing, body, feet or tail,

HMS warrior is a frigate, which is also a bird

An invention am I who can effortlessly sail.

A steam powered ship

I am unlike my lowly brothers who only deliver mail;

HMS stands for "Her Majesty's Ship", the other well known ship prefix RMS means "Royal Mail Steamer"

Surging over the winds I am majestic without fail!

A steam ship can sail against the wind

...Alas, that is a lie, I do have one shortcoming In order to be useful to you I cannot be made thin.

HMS Warrior was an Ironclad (one of the first), so it had to have a thick armour.

Thanks a lot, you, you darned and cursed thing!

The armour was needed because of wars.

Now there are barriers I shan't break, oh, races I'll never win!

While the ship isn't actually very slow by any means, it definitely isn't the fastest either.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Good try. Combine answers with @1848 $\endgroup$
    – kanoo
    Nov 16, 2018 at 14:52
1
$\begingroup$

Perhaps

some kind of war plane?

A bird without wing, body, feet or tail,

again, they don't have the anatomy of a bird but fly like one

An invention am I who can effortlessly sail.

it's an invention, and sails in the sky

I am unlike my lowly brothers who only deliver mail;

mail planes

Surging over the winds I am majestic without fail!

literally flies over the winds

...Alas, that is a lie, I do have one shortcoming

In order to be useful to you I cannot be made thin.

the planes need to be heavily armored

Thanks a lot, you, you darned and cursed thing! Now there are barriers I shan't break, oh, races I'll never win!

because of said armor, the plane is slower, so it won't win a race to a faster plane

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Closest answer so far, but no cigar $\endgroup$
    – kanoo
    Nov 19, 2018 at 17:17
1
$\begingroup$

I think you are a

Zeppelin

A bird without wing, body, feet or tail

A zeppelin has no wings etc.

An invention am I who can effortlessly sail

A zeppelin has motors and doesn't need wind.

I am unlike my lowly brothers who only deliver mail

Zeppelins were used in wars to drop bombs.

...Alas, that is a lie, I do have one shortcoming In order to be useful to you I cannot be made thin

A zeppelin is filled with some sort of gas to fly, and even unfilled it has a predefined shape.

Now there are barriers I shan't break, oh, races I'll never win!

Zeppelins are no longer really used.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ A little bit farther from the answer than Excited Raichu $\endgroup$
    – kanoo
    Nov 19, 2018 at 19:08

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.