Monday, August 3, 2026 — three word bridges.
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 3.1 Pro
4 letters, then 3 letters.
WALK · OUT
sidewalk · walkout · outback — other legal bridges may also count.
Main · written by Claude Opus 4.8
5 letters, then 4 letters.
PAPER · BACK
newspaper · paperback · backfire — other legal bridges may also count.
Challenge · written by Claude Sonnet 4.5
5 letters, then 5 letters.
STORM · CLOUD
rainstorm · stormcloud · cloudburst — other legal bridges may also count.
Day 11 ran on Monday, August 3, 2026. Its three bridges were SIDE to BACK, NEWS to FIRE and RAIN to BURST. 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.
The answer is WALK then OUT, which gives sidewalk, walkout and outback. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 3.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins SIDE to BACK, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
The answer is PAPER then BACK, which gives newspaper, paperback and backfire. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 4.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins NEWS to FIRE, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
The answer is STORM then CLOUD, which gives rainstorm, stormcloud and cloudburst. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 5.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins RAIN to BURST, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
WALK, OUT and BACK 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.