Poople #391 started at HYPE on September 9, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence Y>O, P>M, H>P, E>P, M>O, 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 H-Y-P-E. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 5-move answer
HYPE -> HOPE -> HOME -> POME -> POMP -> POOP
Step 0HYPEStart
Step 1HOPEBridge
Step 2HOMEBridge
Step 3POMEBridge
Step 4POMPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1HYPE -> HOPE
Tile 2 changes Y to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HOPE has 13 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HYPE include TYPE.
Step 2HOPE -> HOME
Tile 3 changes P to M; the move is sideways by letter shape. HOME has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HOPE include POPE, HOLE, ROPE, HOSE.
Step 3HOME -> POME
Tile 1 changes H to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POME has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HOME include SOME, COME, DOME, TOME.
Step 4POME -> POMP
Tile 4 changes E to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POME include SOME, COME, POLE, POPE.
Step 5POMP -> POOP
Tile 3 changes M to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POMP include PUMP, COMP, PIMP, ROMP.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
HYPE has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only HOPE keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin TYPE (+2).
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
HOPE
2: Y -> O
5
Keeps par
2
TYPE
1: H -> T
7
Adds 2 moves
8
HYPE opening fingerprint
HYPE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: TYPE; tile 2: HOPE. Two moves from the start, 15 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is POPE, COPE, DOPE, HOLE, HONE, HOPS, HOSE, LOPE, MOPE, NOPE, ROPE, TAPE, TYKE, TYRE, TYPO.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading
POMP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After POME becomes POMP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SOME, COME, POLE, POPE show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
1
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-15 17:20 UTCPuzzle date: September 9, 2026