Historical route lab

Poople #329 GRAB Answer

Poople #329 started at GRAB on July 9, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence G>C, B>P, A>O, C>P, R>O, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

Replay GRAB Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for GRAB, including 7 legal openings and route signature 1-4-3-1-2.

Calculated from the current word graph

GRAB route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes4Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves73 keep par

Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 1-4-3-1-2

Spoiler controls

Choose how much to reveal

The hint describes the move without naming the word. The full route stays closed until you ask for it.

Reveal a direction, not a word

The current row reads G-R-A-B. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

GRAB -> CRAB -> CRAP -> CROP -> PROP -> POOP

Step 0GRABStart

Step 1CRABBridge

Step 2CRAPBridge

Step 3CROPBridge

Step 4PROPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1GRAB -> CRAB

Tile 1 changes G to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CRAB has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GRAB include GRAD, GRAM, GRAY, GRAN.
Step 2CRAB -> CRAP

Tile 4 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. CRAP has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CRAB include CRAM, CRAY, CRAG, CRAW.
Step 3CRAP -> CROP

Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CROP has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CRAP include CHAP, CLAP, WRAP, TRAP.
Step 4CROP -> PROP

Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from CROP include COOP, DROP, CHOP, CLOP.
Step 5PROP -> POOP

Tile 2 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PROP include PLOP, DROP, PREP, PROS.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

GRAB has 7 legal one-letter neighbors. GRAD, GRAM, CRAB keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin GRAY (+1), GRAN (+1), DRAB (+1), GRUB (+2).

Compare 7 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
GRAD	4: B -> D	5	Keeps par	1
GRAM	4: B -> M	5	Keeps par	1
CRAB	1: G -> C	5	Keeps par	2
GRAY	4: B -> Y	6	Adds 1 move	9
GRAN	4: B -> N	6	Adds 1 move	2
DRAB	1: G -> D	6	Adds 1 move	3
GRUB	3: A -> U	7	Adds 2 moves	4

GRAB opening fingerprint

GRAB groups its legal first moves as tile 1: CRAB, DRAB; tile 3: GRUB; tile 4: GRAD, GRAM, GRAY, GRAN. Two moves from the start, 30 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is GOAD, PRAM, CRAG, CRAM, CRAW, CRAY, DRAM, GLAD, GLAM, GRAD, GRAM, GREY, GRIM, PRAY, TRAD, TRAM, BRAN, BRAY, CRIB, DRAB, DRAG, DRAT, DRAW, FRAY.

Your route

Compare a path you played

Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.

Graph reading

CRAB is the narrowest displayed bridge

After GRAB becomes CRAB, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as GRAD, GRAM, GRAY, GRAN 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 2,398-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.

Data mode: live Graph synced: 2026-08-14 06:48 UTC Puzzle date: July 9, 2026