Historical route lab

Poople #393 FUND Answer

Poople #393 started at FUND on September 11, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence U>O, N>O, D>L, F>P, L>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for FUND, including 5 legal openings and route signature 2-3-4-1-4.
Calculated from the current word graph

FUND route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves51 keep par
Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 2-3-4-1-4
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 F-U-N-D. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

FUND -> FOND -> FOOD -> FOOL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0FUNDStart
Step 1FONDBridge
Step 2FOODBridge
Step 3FOOLBridge
Step 4POOLBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1FUND -> FOND

    Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. FOND has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FUND include FIND, FUNK, FEND, FUNS.

  2. Step 2FOND -> FOOD

    Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. FOOD has 10 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FOND include FORD, FONT, BOND, FOLD.

  3. Step 3FOOD -> FOOL

    Tile 4 changes D to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. FOOL has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FOOD include GOOD, HOOD, WOOD, FOOT.

  4. Step 4FOOL -> POOL

    Tile 1 changes F to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from FOOL include TOOL, COOL, WOOL, FOOT.

  5. Step 5POOL -> 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?

FUND has 5 legal one-letter neighbors, but only FOND keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin FIND (+1), FUNK (+1), FEND (+1), FUNS (+2).

Compare 5 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
FOND2: U -> O5Keeps par3
FIND2: U -> I6Adds 1 move3
FUNK4: D -> K6Adds 1 move2
FEND2: U -> E6Adds 1 move3
FUNS4: D -> S7Adds 2 moves18

FUND opening fingerprint

FUND groups its legal first moves as tile 2: FOND, FIND, FEND; tile 4: FUNK, FUNS. Two moves from the start, 44 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOND, BUNK, FOLD, FONT, FORD, HUNK, BEND, BIND, BUNS, DUNK, FANS, FEED, FEND, FIND, FUNK, GUNK, JUNK, PEND, POND, PUNK, PUNS, RUNS, SUNK, SUNS.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After FOOL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as TOOL, COOL, WOOL, FOOT 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: 2026-08-15 19:10 UTC Puzzle date: September 11, 2026