The bridge club
Missing Links
One word belongs between both.
No daily editions of Missing Links are published yet. These are practice rounds: original, machine-validated and clearly labelled, but not yet through human editorial review. Difficulty labels are the author's intention, not calibrated evidence.
Master rounds are written for strong tile-game and cryptic-crossword players: obscure but valid vocabulary, denser puzzles and fewer helping hands. They are the hardest rounds here.
Gentle 14 rounds
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Standard 14 rounds
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Expert 20 rounds
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Master 12 rounds
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How to play
Each board shows three or four word pieces with a blank before or after them. Find the one missing word that turns every piece into a real one-word compound matching its definition.
A board
- Each branch shows a fixed word and a blank. The arrow and the words “blank before” or “blank after” tell you which side the missing word goes on.
- The same missing word completes every branch. For example, with DAY + blank, MOON + blank and blank + HOUSE, the link is LIGHT: DAYLIGHT, MOONLIGHT and LIGHTHOUSE.
- Each branch has a definition, and the finished compound must match it.
- The number of letters in the missing word is always shown.
- A round holds several boards. Work on them in any order using the board buttons; nothing moves on automatically.
Entering a link
- Type only the missing word and press Submit (or Enter). Typing the whole compound is explained, not counted.
- Every compound is written as one closed word, so the link never needs a space, hyphen or apostrophe. Entries containing them are refused with a reason.
- The link joins on exactly as shown: no letters are added, dropped or re-ordered. HOUSELIGHT is not LIGHTHOUSE.
- A word of the wrong length is refused without counting as a guess, and your entry stays so you can correct it.
- A wrong guess costs nothing. You are told how many branches it makes a word in; you can ask to see which branches failed.
- Where two links genuinely fit every branch and definition (for example DOOR or GATE), either is accepted.
Scoring
- Each correct link scores 100 points. Guesses, hints and word-bank use are recorded separately and do not reduce the score.
- A revealed board scores 0 and is recorded as revealed, distinct from a solve.
- The result lists each board as solved unaided, solved with help, revealed or left unexplored.
Hints and the word bank
- Hints apply to the board you have selected and come in order: the first letter of the link, then one completed branch, then a full reveal.
- A completed branch never enters an answer for you.
- Gentle rounds show a word bank of possible links as part of normal play. In Standard and Expert the bank is hidden; opening it marks that board as solved with help.
- Tap a bank word to put it in the answer box; you still choose when to submit.
Difficulty
- Gentle: concrete everyday compounds, three branches and a visible word bank.
- Standard: blanks before and after, less obvious links and a hidden bank.
- Expert: four branches per board, with plausible competing words that fit some branches but not all.
- Master: four branches of less obvious closed compounds, such as trades, tools and technical terms, with links of four to seven letters and a hidden bank. Only one word completes every branch, and every compound is a standard word from the familiar and uncommon layers (a few reviewed exceptions are logged for editors). Spaced or hyphenated forms are never counted.
- Each difficulty has its own rounds. These labels are the author's intention and have not yet been calibrated with players.
Word list
- Every compound is checked against a British English spellings list (ESDB) as a single closed word. Phrases usually written as two words are not used.
Example
NOTE + blank, blank + CASE and blank + MARK: the link is BOOK (NOTEBOOK, BOOKCASE, BOOKMARK). BOOKS is refused as the wrong length.
Release status for Missing Links
- Engine rules and tests: passed · Pure engine, 21 unit/property tests; canonical boards, alternates and exhaustive alternative-link search
- Browser walkthrough (keyboard, touch, refresh, hint, completion): passed · tests/e2e/missing-links.spec.ts
- Human editorial review of every round: open
- Reviewed practice bank (10+ rounds per advertised difficulty): open
- 30 scheduled reviewed daily editions: open
- Approved dictionary membership layer: open
- Observed player pilot and difficulty calibration: open
- Manual screen-reader and real-device checks: open