Historical route lab

Poople #401 FANS Answer

Poople #401 started at FANS on September 19, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence F>C, A>O, N>O, S>P, C>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 FANS, including 12 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

FANS route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves121 keep par

Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 1-2-3-4-1

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-A-N-S. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

FANS -> CANS -> CONS -> COOS -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0FANSStart

Step 1CANSBridge

Step 2CONSBridge

Step 3COOSBridge

Step 4COOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1FANS -> CANS

Tile 1 changes F to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CANS has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FANS include SANS, VANS, PANS, FATS.
Step 2CANS -> CONS

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CONS has 19 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CANS include CATS, CAPS, CAMS, CABS.
Step 3CONS -> COOS

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOS has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CONS include COPS, COWS, COTS, COGS.
Step 4COOS -> COOP

Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COOS include COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT.
Step 5COOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COOP include LOOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

FANS has 12 legal one-letter neighbors, but only CANS keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin SANS (+1), VANS (+1), PANS (+1), FATS (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
CANS	1: F -> C	5	Keeps par	1
SANS	1: F -> S	6	Adds 1 move	2
VANS	1: F -> V	6	Adds 1 move	1
PANS	1: F -> P	6	Adds 1 move	3
FATS	3: N -> T	6	Adds 1 move	2
BANS	1: F -> B	6	Adds 1 move	7
FADS	3: N -> D	6	Adds 1 move	1
TANS	1: F -> T	6	Adds 1 move	2

FANS opening fingerprint

FANS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: CANS, SANS, VANS, PANS, BANS, TANS; tile 2: FINS, FENS, FUNS; tile 3: FATS, FADS; tile 4: FANG. Two moves from the start, 115 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BAAS, BAGS, BANK, BASS, BATS, BAYS, CABS, CADS, CAMS, CAPS, CATS, CAWS, PALS, PONS, SONS, TONS, BAND, BANE, BANG, BANS, BARS, BINS, BUNS, CANE.

Your route

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Graph reading

COOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After COOS becomes COOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT 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: 2026-08-16 02:09 UTC Puzzle date: September 19, 2026