Historical route lab

Poople #347 SLUM Answer

Poople #347 started at SLUM on July 27, 2026. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence M>R, L>O, S>P, U>O, R>P, with 5 par-preserving first moves.

Replay SLUM Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for SLUM, including 9 legal openings and route signature 4-2-1-3-4.

Calculated from the current word graph

SLUM route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes7Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves95 keep par

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

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 S-L-U-M. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 5 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

SLUM -> SLUR -> SOUR -> POUR -> POOR -> POOP

Step 0SLUMStart

Step 1SLURBridge

Step 2SOURBridge

Step 3POURBridge

Step 4POORBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1SLUM -> SLUR

Tile 4 changes M to R; the move is sideways by letter shape. SLUR has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SLUM include SLIM, SLAM, SLUG, GLUM.
Step 2SLUR -> SOUR

Tile 2 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. SOUR has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SLUR include SPUR, SLUG, BLUR.
Step 3SOUR -> POUR

Tile 1 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POUR has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SOUR include YOUR, FOUR, TOUR, HOUR.
Step 4POUR -> POOR

Tile 3 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOR has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POUR include YOUR, FOUR, TOUR, HOUR.
Step 5POOR -> POOP

Tile 4 changes R to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POOR include POOL, POOF, DOOR, MOOR.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

SLUM has 9 legal one-letter neighbors. SLIM, SLAM, SLUG, SLUR, GLUM keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin PLUM (+1), ALUM (+1), SCUM (+2), SWUM (+2).

Compare 9 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
SLIM	3: U -> I	5	Keeps par	1
SLAM	3: U -> A	5	Keeps par	2
SLUG	4: M -> G	5	Keeps par	1
SLUR	4: M -> R	5	Keeps par	1
GLUM	1: S -> G	5	Keeps par	2
PLUM	1: S -> P	6	Adds 1 move	2
ALUM	1: S -> A	6	Adds 1 move	2
SCUM	2: L -> C	7	Adds 2 moves	9
SWUM	2: L -> W	7	Adds 2 moves	12

SLUM opening fingerprint

SLUM groups its legal first moves as tile 1: GLUM, PLUM, ALUM; tile 2: SCUM, SWUM; tile 3: SLIM, SLAM; tile 4: SLUG, SLUR. Two moves from the start, 40 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is GLOM, SLAP, SLIP, SLOG, CLAM, GLAM, GLUM, SLAB, SLAG, SLAM, SLAT, SLAW, SLAY, SLID, SLIM, SLIT, SLUG, SPUR, ALUM, BLAM, BLUR, GLUE, GLUG, GLUT.

Your route

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Graph reading

SLUR is the narrowest displayed bridge

After SLUM becomes SLUR, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SLIM, SLAM, SLUG, GLUM 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 06:05 UTC Puzzle date: July 27, 2026