Historical route lab

Poople #346 WHAM Answer

Poople #346 started at WHAM on July 26, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence M>P, W>C, A>O, H>O, C>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

Replay WHAM Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for WHAM, including 5 legal openings and route signature 4-1-3-2-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

WHAM route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves51 keep par

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

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 W-H-A-M. 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 the complete 5-move answer

WHAM -> WHAP -> CHAP -> CHOP -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0WHAMStart

Step 1WHAPBridge

Step 2CHAPBridge

Step 3CHOPBridge

Step 4COOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1WHAM -> WHAP

Tile 4 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. WHAP has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WHAM include WHAT, SHAM, WHIM, WHOM.
Step 2WHAP -> CHAP

Tile 1 changes W to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CHAP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WHAP include WRAP, WHIP, WHAT.
Step 3CHAP -> CHOP

Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CHOP has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CHAP include CHIP, CRAP, CLAP, CHAT.
Step 4CHOP -> COOP

Tile 2 changes H 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 CHOP include CROP, CLOP, SHOP, CHIP.
Step 5COOP -> 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?

WHAM has 5 legal one-letter neighbors, but only WHAP keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin WHAT (+1), SHAM (+1), WHIM (+1), WHOM (+2).

Compare 5 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
WHAP	4: M -> P	5	Keeps par	1
WHAT	4: M -> T	6	Adds 1 move	5
SHAM	1: W -> S	6	Adds 1 move	2
WHIM	3: A -> I	6	Adds 1 move	1
WHOM	3: A -> O	7	Adds 2 moves	2

WHAM opening fingerprint

WHAM groups its legal first moves as tile 1: SHAM; tile 3: WHIM, WHOM; tile 4: WHAP, WHAT. Two moves from the start, 23 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CHAT, PHAT, SLAM, WHIP, WRAP, SCAM, SEAM, SHAG, SHAT, SHAW, SHIM, SPAM, SWAM, THAT, WHAT, WHIM, WHIR, WHIT, WHIZ, SHAH, WHET, WHOM, WHOA.

Your route

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Graph reading

WHAP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After WHAM becomes WHAP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as WHAT, SHAM, WHIM, WHOM 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 06:15 UTC Puzzle date: July 26, 2026