KEYSTONE · Day 43

Friday, September 4, 2026 — three word bridges. Answers appear here once the day is over.

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

OVER???????PUT

4 letters, then 3 letters.

Main

STEP??????????MARK

6 letters, then 4 letters.

Challenge

WHOLE???????BREAK

4 letters, then 3 letters.

What day 43 asks you to do

Day 43 is live right now. The three bridges are OVER to PUT, STEP to MARK and WHOLE to BREAK. Each one needs two middle words, and every neighbouring pair has to read as a single ordinary word once you push them together.

Warm-up — OVER to PUT. The first gap takes a 4-letter word and the second takes a 3-letter word. Whatever you put in the first gap has to work twice: once behind OVER and once in front of your second word.

Main — STEP to MARK. The first gap takes a 6-letter word and the second takes a 4-letter word. Whatever you put in the first gap has to work twice: once behind STEP and once in front of your second word.

Challenge — WHOLE to BREAK. The first gap takes a 4-letter word and the second takes a 3-letter word. Whatever you put in the first gap has to work twice: once behind WHOLE and once in front of your second word.

The fastest way in is usually to think in hinge words: words that can attach on both sides, like HOUSE in GREENHOUSE and HOUSEBOAT, or OUT in BLACKOUT and OUTDOOR. Our reference list of 141 compound word hinges shows which words attach to each one on either side.

3 of today's prompt words are heavy hinges in their own right and have a page each: OVER, STEP and BREAK. Those pages list every compound those words take part in, which is a legitimate way in — they say nothing about which pairs are today's answers.

Answers for day 43 are published on this page after the day ends. Nothing above gives them away. If you want worked answers now, the archive has every finished day.

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