Poople #402 started at AWAY on September 20, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence A>S, W>L, S>P, A>O, Y>P, L>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 A-W-A-Y. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Tile 1 changes A to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. SWAY has 10 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from AWAY include AWRY.
Step 2SWAY -> SLAY
Tile 2 changes W to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. SLAY has 12 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SWAY include SWAP, STAY, SWAN, SWAT.
Step 3SLAY -> PLAY
Tile 1 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PLAY has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SLAY include SLAP, CLAY, SLAM, SLAB.
Step 4PLAY -> PLOY
Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. PLOY has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PLAY include PLAP, PLAN, PLAT, CLAY.
Step 5PLOY -> PLOP
Tile 4 changes Y to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PLOP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PLOY include PLOT, PLOW, PLOD, CLOY.
Step 6PLOP -> POOP
Tile 2 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PLOP include PROP, PLOT, FLOP, PLOW.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
AWAY has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only SWAY keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin AWRY (+2).
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
SWAY
1: A -> S
6
Keeps par
6
AWRY
3: A -> R
8
Adds 2 moves
6
AWAY opening fingerprint
AWAY groups its legal first moves as tile 1: SWAY; tile 3: AWRY. Two moves from the start, 9 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is SWAP, SPAY, STAY, SWAB, SWAG, SWAM, SWAN, SWAT, AIRY.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
PLOY is the narrowest displayed bridge
After PLAY becomes PLOY, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as PLAP, PLAN, PLAT, CLAY show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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: 2026-08-16 02:47 UTCPuzzle date: September 20, 2026