Tuesday, August 11, 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 Claude Sonnet 4.6
4 letters, then 5 letters.
BIRD · HOUSE
blackbird · birdhouse · household — at least 3 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Main · written by GPT-5.5
5 letters, then 5 letters.
LIGHT · HOUSE
moonlight · lighthouse · houseplant — other legal bridges may also count.
Challenge · written by Claude Haiku 4.5
5 letters, then 4 letters.
COUNT · DOWN
headcount · countdown · download — other legal bridges may also count.
Day 19 ran on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. Its three bridges were BLACK to HOLD, MOON to PLANT and HEAD to LOAD. 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 BIRD then HOUSE, which gives blackbird, birdhouse and household. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 5.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 3 different pairs here and every one of them scores: GUARD · HOUSE and OUT · HOUSE work 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.
The answer is LIGHT then HOUSE, which gives moonlight, lighthouse and houseplant. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 5.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins MOON to PLANT, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
The answer is COUNT then DOWN, which gives headcount, countdown and download. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 4.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins HEAD to LOAD, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
HOUSE, LIGHT and DOWN 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.