Historical route lab

Poople #397 RISK Answer

Poople #397 started at RISK on September 15, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence K>E, I>O, R>P, S>M, E>P, M>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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

RISK route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves41 keep par
Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 4-2-1-3-4-3
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 R-I-S-K. 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 6-move answer

RISK -> RISE -> ROSE -> POSE -> POME -> POMP -> POOP

Step 0RISKStart
Step 1RISEBridge
Step 2ROSEBridge
Step 3POSEBridge
Step 4POMEBridge
Step 5POMPBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1RISK -> RISE

    Tile 4 changes K to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. RISE has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RISK include DISK, RINK, RUSK.

  2. Step 2RISE -> ROSE

    Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. ROSE has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RISE include WISE, RIPE, RUSE, RIME.

  3. Step 3ROSE -> POSE

    Tile 1 changes R to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POSE has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROSE include ROLE, LOSE, DOSE, NOSE.

  4. Step 4POSE -> POME

    Tile 3 changes S to M; the move is sideways by letter shape. POME has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POSE include POLE, POPE, POKE, PORE.

  5. Step 5POME -> 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 HOME, SOME, COME, POLE.

  6. Step 6POMP -> 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?

RISK has 4 legal one-letter neighbors, but only RISE keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin DISK (+1), RINK (+1), RUSK (+1).

Compare 4 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
RISE4: K -> E6Keeps par1
DISK1: R -> D7Adds 1 move7
RINK3: S -> N7Adds 1 move19
RUSK2: I -> U7Adds 1 move6

RISK opening fingerprint

RISK groups its legal first moves as tile 1: DISK; tile 2: RUSK; tile 3: RINK; tile 4: RISE. Two moves from the start, 37 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BUSK, DICK, DIRK, HUSK, LINK, MINK, RANK, RASE, RILE, RIME, RIPE, RUSE, RUST, TINK, WISE, DESK, DINK, DISH, DISS, DUSK, FINK, KINK, MUSK, OINK.

Your route

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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 HOME, SOME, COME, POLE show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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: live Graph synced: 2026-08-15 22:44 UTC Puzzle date: September 15, 2026