Monday, September 21, 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
5 letters, then 4 letters.
BREAK · DOWN
outbreak · breakdown · downhill — at least 3 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Main
4 letters, then 4 letters.
BALL · ROOM
softball · ballroom · roommate — other legal bridges may also count.
Challenge
5 letters, then 5 letters.
POWER · HOUSE
firepower · powerhouse · household — at least 2 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.
Day 60 ran on Monday, September 21, 2026. Its three bridges were OUT to HILL, SOFT to MATE and FIRE to HOLD. 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 BREAK then DOWN, which gives outbreak, breakdown and downhill. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 4.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 3 different pairs here and every one of them scores: LET · DOWN and RUN · DOWN 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 BALL then ROOM, which gives softball, ballroom and roommate. The first gap is 4 letters, the second is 4.
Only one pair in the KEYSTONE word bank joins SOFT to MATE, so this bridge had a single accepted answer. The narrow end is usually the one to solve first.
The answer is POWER then HOUSE, which gives firepower, powerhouse and household. The first gap is 5 letters, the second is 5.
This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 2 different pairs here and every one of them scores: WORK · HOUSE 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.
BREAK, DOWN, BALL, ROOM, POWER and HOUSE 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.