Historical route lab

Poople #356 HUGS Answer

Poople #356 started at HUGS on August 5, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence H>B, U>O, G>O, S>P, B>P, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for HUGS, including 14 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

HUGS route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes4Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves143 keep par

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

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 H-U-G-S. 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

HUGS -> BUGS -> BOGS -> BOOS -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0HUGSStart

Step 1BUGSBridge

Step 2BOGSBridge

Step 3BOOSBridge

Step 4BOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1HUGS -> BUGS

Tile 1 changes H to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BUGS has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HUGS include HOGS, HUMS, RUGS, MUGS.
Step 2BUGS -> BOGS

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOGS has 19 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BUGS include BAGS, BUYS, BUDS, BEGS.
Step 3BOGS -> BOOS

Tile 3 changes G to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOS has 21 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOGS include BOYS, BOSS, BOTS, BOWS.
Step 4BOOS -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOP has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from BOOS include BOOK, BOOT, BOOB, BOOM.
Step 5BOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOOP include LOOP, COOP, HOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

HUGS has 14 legal one-letter neighbors. BUGS, HOGS, HUMS keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin RUGS (+1), MUGS (+1), HUBS (+1), JUGS (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BUGS	1: H -> B	5	Keeps par	1
HOGS	2: U -> O	5	Keeps par	2
HUMS	3: G -> M	5	Keeps par	1
RUGS	1: H -> R	6	Adds 1 move	3
MUGS	1: H -> M	6	Adds 1 move	1
HUBS	3: G -> B	6	Adds 1 move	5
JUGS	1: H -> J	6	Adds 1 move	3
HUTS	3: G -> T	6	Adds 1 move	5

HUGS opening fingerprint

HUGS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BUGS, RUGS, MUGS, JUGS, PUGS, LUGS, TUGS; tile 2: HOGS, HAGS; tile 3: HUMS, HUBS, HUTS, HUES; tile 4: HUGE. Two moves from the start, 88 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is COGS, HUMP, BAGS, BEGS, BUBS, BUDS, BUMS, BUTS, BUYS, CUBS, CUTS, DOGS, FOGS, HOBS, HOES, HOGS, HONS, HOPS, HOSS, HOTS, HUED, HUMS, JOGS, LOGS.

Your route

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Graph reading

BOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BOOS becomes BOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BOOK, BOOT, BOOB, BOOM 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 06:41 UTC Puzzle date: August 5, 2026