Coffee Break: Dirty-to-Clean Chain

[Otis]

Arrange the following words to form a chain that goes from DIRTY to CLEAN. Each pair of adjacent words must form a common phrase, compound word or hyphenated word.

DIRTY	TOOTH	STICK	DEEP
KEY	NEW	FRONT	STONE
FIRE	DRY	PIG	BRAND
COLD	POOL	BRUSH	SHIFT
SKIN	GUINEA	FREEZE	CLEAN

?

 

[Dr.Peterson]

Sort of a verbal jigsaw puzzle!

Spoiler

DIRTY
POOL
STICK
SHIFT
KEY
STONE
COLD
FRONT
TOOTH
BRUSH
FIRE
BRAND
NEW
GUINEA
PIG
SKIN
DEEP
FREEZE
DRY
CLEAN

 

[ksdhart2]

I got the exact same answer, but I was only able to arrive at it by placing together all the clues around the one I couldn't figure out. What is

Spoiler

FIRE BRAND?

 

[Dr.Peterson]

Spoiler

Compound word: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebrand

 

[Otis]

Sort of a verbal jigsaw puzzle!

Yes, that's a good description. Some of the pieces were intentionally designed to give the appearance that they fit together when actually they don't (just like a regular jigsaw puzzle).

You aced it!

?

 

[Otis]

… I was only able to arrive at it by placing together all the clues around the one I couldn't figure out …

More power to ya!