Today's route

Poople Answer Today #437 CASE

Today's CASE 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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Play before revealing: try today's shared board first, then return to compare your route or open only the hint you need.

Calculated from the current word graph

CASE route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes6Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves153 keep par

Opening shapeselective 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-S-E. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal only the next word

CASE → CAST. Change tile 4. The remaining route stays inside the full reveal.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

CASE -> CAST -> COST -> COOT -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0CASEStart

Step 1CASTBridge

Step 2COSTBridge

Step 3COOTBridge

Step 4COOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Letter positions: 4-2-3-4-1. Letter changes: E>T, A>O, S>O, T>P, C>P.

Step 1CASE -> CAST

Tile 4 changes E to T; the move is sideways by letter shape. CAST has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CASE include CAME, CASH, BASE, CAGE.
Step 2CAST -> COST

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COST has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CAST include CASH, CYST, LAST, PAST.
Step 3COST -> COOT

Tile 3 changes S to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOT has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COST include COAT, COLT, HOST, LOST.
Step 4COOT -> COOP

Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COOT include COOK, COOL, COOS, HOOT.
Step 5COOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 12 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COOP include HOOP, LOOP, GOOP, CHOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

CASE has 15 legal one-letter neighbors. CAME, CASH, CAST keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin BASE (+1), CAGE (+1), CAKE (+1), CANE (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
CAME	3: S -> M	5	Keeps par	4
CASH	4: E -> H	5	Keeps par	1
CAST	4: E -> T	5	Keeps par	1
BASE	1: C -> B	6	Adds 1 move	4
CAGE	3: S -> G	6	Adds 1 move	4
CAKE	3: S -> K	6	Adds 1 move	6
CANE	3: S -> N	6	Adds 1 move	11
CAPE	3: S -> P	6	Adds 1 move	14

CASE opening fingerprint

CASE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BASE, LASE, EASE, VASE; tile 3: CAME, CAGE, CAKE, CANE, CAPE, CARE, CAVE; tile 4: CASH, CAST, CASK, CASA. Two moves from the start, 124 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CAMP, COME, COSH, BASH, BASS, CAME, CAMO, CAMS, CANS, CAPS, CARP, CASH, COKE, CONE, COPE, CORE, COVE, CYST, DASH, GASH, LASS, LAST, LOSE, MASH.

Your route

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Graph reading

COST is the narrowest displayed bridge

After CAST becomes COST, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as CASH, CYST, LAST, PAST show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 1
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 3

How these figures were calculated

Poople recomputes adjacency and distance from the accepted 2,506-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: 2026-10-25 16:30 UTC Puzzle date: October 25, 2026