Historical route lab

Poople #364 WARN Answer

Poople #364 started at WARN on August 13, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>O, W>B, R>O, N>P, B>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Replay WARN Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for WARN, including 12 legal openings and route signature 2-1-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

WARN route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves122 keep par

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

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 W-A-R-N. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

WARN -> WORN -> BORN -> BOON -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0WARNStart

Step 1WORNBridge

Step 2BORNBridge

Step 3BOONBridge

Step 4BOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1WARN -> WORN

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. WORN has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WARN include BARN, EARN, WARD, WARE.
Step 2WORN -> BORN

Tile 1 changes W to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BORN has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WORN include WORK, PORN, WORD, CORN.
Step 3BORN -> BOON

Tile 3 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOON has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BORN include PORN, BURN, CORN, HORN.
Step 4BOON -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes N 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 BOON 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?

WARN has 12 legal one-letter neighbors. WORN, BARN keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin EARN (+1), WARD (+1), WARE (+1), YARN (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
WORN	2: A -> O	5	Keeps par	1
BARN	1: W -> B	5	Keeps par	1
EARN	1: W -> E	6	Adds 1 move	1
WARD	4: N -> D	6	Adds 1 move	4
WARE	4: N -> E	6	Adds 1 move	2
YARN	1: W -> Y	6	Adds 1 move	1
WARP	4: N -> P	6	Adds 1 move	2
DARN	1: W -> D	6	Adds 1 move	1

WARN opening fingerprint

WARN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BARN, EARN, YARN, DARN; tile 2: WORN; tile 4: WARD, WARE, WARP, WARS, WARM, WARY, WART. Two moves from the start, 90 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BARN, BURN, CARP, CORN, HORN, MORN, PARE, PORN, TORN, WORD, WORE, WORK, BARB, BARD, BARE, BARF, BARK, BARS, CARD, CARE, CARS, CART, DAMN, DARE.

Your route

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Graph reading

BORN is the narrowest displayed bridge

After WORN becomes BORN, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as WORK, PORN, WORD, CORN 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 18:35 UTC Puzzle date: August 13, 2026