Historical route lab

Poople #358 SUED Answer

Poople #358 started at SUED on August 7, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence S>H, U>O, E>O, D>P, H>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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

Calculated from the current word graph

SUED route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves92 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 S-U-E-D. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

SUED -> HUED -> HOED -> HOOD -> HOOP -> POOP

Step 0SUEDStart

Step 1HUEDBridge

Step 2HOEDBridge

Step 3HOODBridge

Step 4HOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1SUED -> HUED

Tile 1 changes S to H; the move is sideways by letter shape. HUED has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SUED include SLED, SEED, SHED, SUES.
Step 2HUED -> HOED

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HOED has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HUED include HEED, HUES, CUED, RUED.
Step 3HOED -> HOOD

Tile 3 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HOOD has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HOED include HOLD, COED, HEED, HOES.
Step 4HOOD -> HOOP

Tile 4 changes D to P; the move is closer by letter shape. HOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from HOOD include GOOD, HOOK, HOOF, HOOT.
Step 5HOOP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

SUED has 9 legal one-letter neighbors. SLED, HUED keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin SEED (+1), SHED (+1), SUES (+1), SPED (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
SLED	2: U -> L	5	Keeps par	1
HUED	1: S -> H	5	Keeps par	1
SEED	2: U -> E	6	Adds 1 move	5
SHED	2: U -> H	6	Adds 1 move	3
SUES	4: D -> S	6	Adds 1 move	1
SPED	2: U -> P	6	Adds 1 move	1
CUED	1: S -> C	6	Adds 1 move	2
RUED	1: S -> R	6	Adds 1 move	1

SUED opening fingerprint

SUED groups its legal first moves as tile 1: HUED, CUED, RUED; tile 2: SLED, SEED, SHED, SPED; tile 4: SUES, SUET. Two moves from the start, 51 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is PLED, BLED, COED, FLED, HEED, PEED, SEEP, SHOD, SLED, SLEW, SLID, SUMS, CRED, CUED, CUES, CURD, DEED, DUES, FEED, HUES, NEED, REED, RUED, RUES.

Your route

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Graph reading

HUED is the narrowest displayed bridge

After SUED becomes HUED, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SLED, SEED, SHED, SUES 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 18:41 UTC Puzzle date: August 7, 2026