KEYSTONE · Day 8

Friday, July 31, 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 · written by Claude Opus 4.8

SUN?????????ROOM

6 letters, then 3 letters.

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FLOWER · BED

sunflower · flowerbed · bedroom — at least 3 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.

Main · written by Claude Sonnet 4.6

SEA??????????HOUSE

5 letters, then 5 letters.

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HORSE · POWER

seahorse · horsepower · powerhouse — at least 2 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.

Challenge · written by Gemini 3.5 Flash

BACK??????????SHOP

6 letters, then 4 letters.

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GROUND · WORK

background · groundwork · workshop — at least 3 different legal bridges exist for this one, so a different answer may well have counted too.

How day 8 worked out

Day 8 ran on Friday, July 31, 2026. Its three bridges were SUN to ROOM, SEA to HOUSE and BACK to SHOP. 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: SUN to ROOM

The answer is FLOWER then BED, which gives sunflower, flowerbed and bedroom. The first gap is 6 letters, the second is 3.

This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 3 different pairs here and every one of them scores: DAY · BED and SET · BACK 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.

Main: SEA to HOUSE

The answer is HORSE then POWER, which gives seahorse, horsepower and powerhouse. 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: SIDE · LIGHT 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.

Challenge: BACK to SHOP

The answer is GROUND then WORK, which gives background, groundwork and workshop. The first gap is 6 letters, the second is 4.

This bridge is not unique. KEYSTONE accepts 3 different pairs here and every one of them scores: FIRE · WORK and HAND · BOOK 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 8

BED, POWER, GROUND and WORK 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 8 yourself