Historical route lab

Poople #367 NEXT Answer

Poople #367 started at NEXT on August 16, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence X>A, N>B, E>O, A>O, T>P, B>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 NEXT, including 4 legal openings and route signature 3-1-2-3-4-1.
Calculated from the current word graph

NEXT route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes5Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves42 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 3-1-2-3-4-1
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 N-E-X-T. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

NEXT -> NEAT -> BEAT -> BOAT -> BOOT -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0NEXTStart
Step 1NEATBridge
Step 2BEATBridge
Step 3BOATBridge
Step 4BOOTBridge
Step 5BOOPBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1NEXT -> NEAT

    Tile 3 changes X to A; the move is sideways by letter shape. NEAT has 12 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from NEXT include NEST, TEXT, NEWT.

  2. Step 2NEAT -> BEAT

    Tile 1 changes N to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BEAT has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from NEAT include PEAT, NEAR, HEAT, SEAT.

  3. Step 3BEAT -> BOAT

    Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOAT has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BEAT include BEAR, BELT, PEAT, BRAT.

  4. Step 4BOAT -> BOOT

    Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOT has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOAT include COAT, BOLT, BOUT, BOAR.

  5. Step 5BOOT -> BOOP

    Tile 4 changes T 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 BOOT include BOOK, BOOB, BOOM, BOON.

  6. Step 6BOOP -> 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?

NEXT has 4 legal one-letter neighbors. NEST, NEAT keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin TEXT (+1), NEWT (+1).

Compare 4 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
NEST3: X -> S6Keeps par2
NEAT3: X -> A6Keeps par3
TEXT1: N -> T7Adds 1 move5
NEWT3: X -> W7Adds 1 move5

NEXT opening fingerprint

NEXT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: TEXT; tile 3: NEST, NEAT, NEWT. Two moves from the start, 23 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is HEST, LEST, PEAT, BEST, FEAT, FEST, HEAT, JEST, MEAT, NEAR, NEST, PEST, REST, SEAT, TEAT, TEST, VEST, WEST, ZEST, NEAP, NEWS, NEWT, TENT.

Your route

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Graph reading

BOAT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BEAT becomes BOAT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BEAR, BELT, PEAT, BRAT show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
3

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 20:20 UTC Puzzle date: August 16, 2026