Tuesday, September 8, 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
4 letters, then 4 letters.
BACK · SIDE
payback · backside · sidekick — at least 3 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Main
4 letters, then 3 letters.
OVER · RUN
leftover · overrun · runway — at least 3 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Challenge
3 letters, then 3 letters.
OUT · LAW
shootout · outlaw · lawsuit — other legal bridges may also count.
Day 47 ran on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Its three bridges were PAY to KICK, LEFT to WAY and SHOOT to SUIT. 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 BACK then SIDE, which gives payback, backside and sidekick. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 4.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 3 different pairs here and every one of them scores: OFF · SIDE and OUT · SIDE 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 OVER then RUN, which gives leftover, overrun and runway. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 3.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 3 different pairs here and every one of them scores: OVER · DRIVE and OVER · HEAD 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 OUT then LAW, which gives shootout, outlaw and lawsuit. The first gap is 3 letters, the second is 3.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins SHOOT to SUIT, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
BACK, SIDE, OVER, RUN and OUT 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.