Poople #334 started at FUME on July 14, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence U>A, F>C, A>O, E>P, M>O, C>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.
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 F-U-M-E. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 6-move answer
FUME -> FAME -> CAME -> COME -> COMP -> COOP -> POOP
Step 0FUMEStart
Step 1FAMEBridge
Step 2CAMEBridge
Step 3COMEBridge
Step 4COMPBridge
Step 5COOPBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1FUME -> FAME
Tile 2 changes U to A; the move is sideways by letter shape. FAME has 15 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FUME include FUSE, FUZE.
Step 2FAME -> CAME
Tile 1 changes F to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CAME has 20 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FAME include SAME, DAME, TAME, NAME.
Step 3CAME -> COME
Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COME has 17 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CAME include CAMP, SAME, CAMS, DAME.
Step 4COME -> COMP
Tile 4 changes E to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COMP has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COME include POME, HOME, SOME, DOME.
Step 5COMP -> COOP
Tile 3 changes M to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COMP include POMP, COUP, ROMP, CAMP.
Step 6COOP -> POOP
Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COOP include LOOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
FUME has 3 legal one-letter neighbors, but only FAME keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin FUSE (+1), FUZE (+2).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
FAME
2: U -> A
6
Keeps par
8
FUSE
3: M -> S
7
Adds 1 move
1
FUZE
3: M -> Z
8
Adds 2 moves
21
FUME opening fingerprint
FUME groups its legal first moves as tile 2: FAME; tile 3: FUSE, FUZE. Two moves from the start, 19 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is DAME, SAME, TAME, FARE, GAME, LAME, NAME, RUSE, FACE, FADE, FAKE, FATE, FAVE, FAZE, FUSE, FUSS, MUSE, FUZE, FUZZ.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
COOP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After COMP becomes COOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as POMP, COUP, ROMP, CAMP show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
4
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-14 06:33 UTCPuzzle date: July 14, 2026