Poople #375 started at RITZ on August 24, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence Z>E, I>O, T>L, E>L, R>P, L>O, L>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.
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 R-I-T-Z. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 7-move answer
RITZ -> RITE -> ROTE -> ROLE -> ROLL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP
Step 0RITZStart
Step 1RITEBridge
Step 2ROTEBridge
Step 3ROLEBridge
Step 4ROLLBridge
Step 5POLLBridge
Step 6POOLBridge
Step 7POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1RITZ -> RITE
Tile 4 changes Z to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. RITE has 17 legal neighbors, 8 shortest continuations, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RITZ include DITZ.
Step 2RITE -> ROTE
Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. ROTE has 15 legal neighbors, 7 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RITE include RISE, LITE, RIPE, CITE.
Step 3ROTE -> ROLE
Tile 3 changes T to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. ROLE has 17 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROTE include ROSE, ROPE, COTE, TOTE.
Step 4ROLE -> ROLL
Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. ROLL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROLE include POLE, ROSE, HOLE, SOLE.
Step 5ROLL -> POLL
Tile 1 changes R to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROLL include TOLL, DOLL, BOLL, LOLL.
Step 6POLL -> POOL
Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POLL include TOLL, PULL, PILL, DOLL.
Step 7POOL -> POOP
Tile 4 changes L to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POOL include POOR, POOF, TOOL, COOL.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
RITZ has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only RITE keeps the route at 7 moves. Nearby detours begin DITZ (+2).
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
RITE
4: Z -> E
7
Keeps par
33
DITZ
1: R -> D
9
Adds 2 moves
33
RITZ opening fingerprint
RITZ groups its legal first moves as tile 1: DITZ; tile 4: RITE. Two moves from the start, 15 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BITE, CITE, LITE, RILE, RIME, RIPE, RISE, KITE, MITE, RATE, RICE, RIDE, RIFE, SITE, VITE.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading
ROLL is the narrowest displayed bridge
After ROLE becomes ROLL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as POLE, ROSE, HOLE, SOLE show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
3
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
4
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-15 02:48 UTCPuzzle date: August 24, 2026