Tuesday, September 15, 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 3 letters.
DOOR · MAN
outdoor · doorman · manpower — at least 5 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Main
3 letters, then 5 letters.
GUN · POINT
shotgun · gunpoint · pointless — other legal bridges may also count.
Challenge
3 letters, then 4 letters.
OFF · SIDE
payoff · offside · sideline — at least 2 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Day 54 ran on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Its three bridges were OUT to POWER, SHOT to LESS and PAY to LINE. 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 DOOR then MAN, which gives outdoor, doorman and manpower. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 3.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 5 different pairs here and every one of them scores: HOUSE · MAN, LAW · MAN, BACK · FIRE and POST · MAN 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 GUN then POINT, which gives shotgun, gunpoint and pointless. The first gap is 3 letters, the second is 5.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins SHOT to LESS, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
The answer is OFF then SIDE, which gives payoff, offside and sideline. The first gap is 3 letters, the second is 4.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 2 different pairs here and every one of them scores: OUT · SIDE works 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.
DOOR, MAN, GUN, POINT, OFF and SIDE 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.