KEYSTONE · Day 5

Tuesday, July 28, 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

STAND???????OUT

3 letters, then 4 letters.

Show an answer

OFF · HAND

standoff · offhand · handout — other legal bridges may also count.

Main

CLOCK???????COME

4 letters, then 3 letters.

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WORK · OUT

clockwork · workout · outcome — other legal bridges may also count.

Challenge

LEFT????????LESS

4 letters, then 4 letters.

Show an answer

OVER · TIME

leftover · overtime · timeless — at least 4 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.

How day 5 worked out

Day 5 ran on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Its three bridges were STAND to OUT, CLOCK to COME and LEFT to LESS. 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: STAND to OUT

The answer is OFF then HAND, which gives standoff, offhand and handout. The first gap is 3 letters, the second is 4.

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

Main: CLOCK to COME

The answer is WORK then OUT, which gives clockwork, workout and outcome. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 3.

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

Challenge: LEFT to LESS

The answer is OVER then TIME, which gives leftover, overtime and timeless. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 4.

This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 4 different pairs here and every one of them scores: OVER · HEAD, OVER · POWER and OVER · WEIGHT 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.

Every compound word in day 5

OFF, HAND, WORK, OUT, OVER and TIME 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 5 yourself