Sunday, September 13, 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
3 letters, then 5 letters.
MAN · POWER
watchman · manpower · powerless — other legal bridges may also count.
Main
5 letters, then 4 letters.
BREAK · DOWN
outbreak · breakdown · downside — at least 9 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Challenge
3 letters, then 4 letters.
OUT · BACK
workout · outback · backpack — other legal bridges may also count.
Day 52 ran on Sunday, September 13, 2026. Its three bridges were WATCH to LESS, OUT to SIDE and WORK to PACK. 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 MAN then POWER, which gives watchman, manpower and powerless. The first gap is 3 letters, the second is 5.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins WATCH to LESS, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
The answer is BREAK then DOWN, which gives outbreak, breakdown and downside. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 4.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 9 different pairs here and every one of them scores: LET · DOWN, COME · BACK, BACK · FIRE, SET · BACK, DOOR · WAY, RUN · DOWN, RUN · WAY and RUN · OFF 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 BACK, which gives workout, outback and backpack. The first gap is 3 letters, the second is 4.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins WORK to PACK, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
MAN, POWER, BREAK, DOWN, 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.