KEYSTONE · Day 10

Sunday, August 2, 2026 — three word bridges.

Every neighbouring pair has to make one word. SOME → DAY → LIGHT → HOUSE works because someday, daylight and lighthouse are all words. You are given the two ends; you supply the middle. More than one bridge is often legal, and any legal bridge counts.

Warm-up · written by Gemini 3.5 Flash

PLAY??????????SHOP

6 letters, then 4 letters.

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GROUND · WORK

playground · groundwork · workshop — at least 2 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.

Main · written by Claude Opus 4.6

ARM????????HOLE

5 letters, then 3 letters.

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CHAIR · MAN

armchair · chairman · manhole — other legal bridges may also count.

Challenge · written by Grok 4.5

STORY?????????WAY

5 letters, then 4 letters.

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BOARD · WALK

storyboard · boardwalk · walkway — other legal bridges may also count.

How day 10 worked out

Day 10 ran on Sunday, August 2, 2026. Its three bridges were PLAY to SHOP, ARM to HOLE and STORY to WAY. Between them they build nine compound words, all listed at the bottom of this page. Below is the answer to each bridge and what makes it fit.

Warm-up: PLAY to SHOP

The answer is GROUND then WORK, which gives playground, groundwork and workshop. The first gap is 6 letters, the second is 4.

This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 2 different pairs here and every one of them scores: HOUSE · WORK works just as well as the pair above. Ends like these sit in the crowded part of the compound-word network, which is why several routes cross them.

Main: ARM to HOLE

The answer is CHAIR then MAN, which gives armchair, chairman and manhole. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 3.

Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins ARM to HOLE, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.

Challenge: STORY to WAY

The answer is BOARD then WALK, which gives storyboard, boardwalk and walkway. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 4.

Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins STORY to WAY, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.

Every compound word in day 10

GROUND, WORK, MAN, BOARD and WALK have a page listing every compound built on them and the other chains you can run through them.

Every one of those nine compounds turns on a hinge word doing double duty. If you want to see the whole set KEYSTONE draws from, the reference list of 141 compound word hinges gives the words that attach in front of and behind each one.

Play day 10 yourself