Poople #379 started at MICA on August 28, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>E, C>L, E>L, M>P, I>O, L>O, L>P, with 2 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 M-I-C-A. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Tile 4 changes A to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. MICE has 14 legal neighbors, 6 shortest continuations, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MICA include MICS.
Step 2MICE -> MILE
Tile 3 changes C to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. MILE has 19 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MICE include MIKE, DICE, MIME, LICE.
Step 3MILE -> MILL
Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. MILL has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MILE include PILE, MOLE, FILE, MALE.
Step 4MILL -> PILL
Tile 1 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PILL has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MILL include WILL, BILL, HILL, FILL.
Step 5PILL -> POLL
Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PILL include PULL, PALL, WILL, BILL.
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 ROLL, TOLL, PULL, 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?
MICA has 2 legal one-letter neighbors. MICE, MICS keep the route at 7 moves, while sampled detours begin outside the displayed set.
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
MICE
4: A -> E
7
Keeps par
14
MICS
4: A -> S
7
Keeps par
4
MICA opening fingerprint
MICA groups its legal first moves as tile 4: MICE, MICS. Two moves from the start, 16 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is DICE, LICE, MIKE, MIME, MIRE, MISS, MACE, MICS, MINE, MITE, NICE, PICS, RICE, SICS, TICS, VICE.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading
POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge
After POLL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as ROLL, TOLL, PULL, DOLL 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 06:05 UTCPuzzle date: August 28, 2026