Today's route

Poople Answer Today #421 CARB

Today's CARB board has a par of 5. Try it first, then use the directional hint, route reveal, calculated branch table, or live community result only as needed.

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Calculated from the current word graph

CARB route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves81 keep par

Opening shapenarrow openingDetailed route analysis is inside the full reveal

Spoiler controls

Choose how much to reveal

The direction names no answer word. Next word reveals one move. Full answer opens the route and every branch analysis. Close a panel to hide it again.

Reveal a direction, not a word

The current row reads C-A-R-B. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal only the next word

CARB → CARP. Change tile 4. The remaining route stays inside the full reveal.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

CARB -> CARP -> CAMP -> COMP -> POMP -> POOP

Step 0CARBStart

Step 1CARPBridge

Step 2CAMPBridge

Step 3COMPBridge

Step 4POMPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Letter positions: 4-3-2-1-3. Letter changes: B>P, R>M, A>O, C>P, M>O.

Step 1CARB -> CARP

Tile 4 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. CARP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CARB include CARD, CARE, CARS, CART.
Step 2CARP -> CAMP

Tile 3 changes R to M; the move is sideways by letter shape. CAMP has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CARP include CARD, CARE, CARS, CART.
Step 3CAMP -> COMP

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COMP has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CAMP include RAMP, CAME, DAMP, LAMP.
Step 4COMP -> POMP

Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COMP include COOP, COUP, ROMP, COMA.
Step 5POMP -> POOP

Tile 3 changes M to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 12 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POMP include PIMP, PUMP, ROMP, POMS.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

CARB has 8 legal one-letter neighbors, but only CARP keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin CARD (+1), CARE (+1), CARS (+1), CART (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
CARP	4: B -> P	5	Keeps par	2
CARD	4: B -> D	6	Adds 1 move	4
CARE	4: B -> E	6	Adds 1 move	11
CARS	4: B -> S	6	Adds 1 move	27
CART	4: B -> T	6	Adds 1 move	3
BARB	1: C -> B	7	Adds 2 moves	27
CURB	2: A -> U	7	Adds 2 moves	27
GARB	1: C -> G	7	Adds 2 moves	11

CARB opening fingerprint

CARB groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BARB, GARB; tile 2: CURB; tile 4: CARP, CARD, CARE, CARS, CART. Two moves from the start, 69 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CABS, CADS, CAME, CAMS, CANS, CAPS, CAST, CATS, CAWS, CORD, CORE, PARS, BARE, BARN, BARS, CAGE, CAKE, CANE, CANT, CAPE, CARD, CARE, CARS, CART.

Your route

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Graph reading

POMP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After COMP becomes POMP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as COOP, COUP, ROMP, COMA show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 1
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 2

How these figures were calculated

Poople recomputes adjacency and distance from the accepted 2,508-word graph. "Shortest routes" counts every path that lowers the remaining distance by one at each move; it is not a guess based on page text or player scores.

The displayed answer is one shortest route selected from that graph. Community scores and notes are kept separate because they describe player activity, not the mathematical route.

Counts use the full accepted graph, including uncommon words and words with sensitive meanings. The first-move groups list every legal opening. The comparison table, alternative exits, and two-move frontier show samples, not every possible continuation.

Data mode: live Graph synced: 2026-10-09 17:15 UTC Puzzle date: October 9, 2026