6 words in a chain, from FIRE to PLAN. Fill the 4 between so every pair of neighbours makes a compound word or a phrase everyone knows. Any chain that holds counts.
Hinge is a free daily word chain from Mind Loft. Each day gives you the first and last word of a chain and the letter count of every word between, and every pair of neighbours has to make a compound word or a phrase everyone knows: FIRE then PLACE is a fireplace, PLACE then MAT is a placemat, and so on down to the last word. It is the before-and-after game, played as a ladder.
The words are not fixed, only the letter counts are. Any chain the game’s vocabulary accepts counts, and when you finish you see your chain beside the setter’s. A real word that does not hinge is a detour: it stays on the board, struck through, and detours break ties on the daily leaderboard, where the clock is the score. Tapping a word you placed clears it and everything below it for free, so a dead end is never a trap, and the board tells you the moment no chain can reach the end from where you are.
A new chain drops every day at midnight Eastern. Weekdays are six words with four to fill; the Sunday Edition is eight words with six to fill and one of them printed. No app, no signup, play free in your browser, keep a streak, and race the leaderboard. Like the shape? Rung is the ladder that changes one letter at a time, and Links sorts sixteen words into four groups.