Historical route lab

Poople #416 RAFT Answer

Poople #416 started at RAFT on October 4, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>I, F>O, I>O, R>L, T>P, L>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for RAFT, including 7 legal openings and route signature 2-3-2-1-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

RAFT route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes7Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves72 keep par

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

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 R-A-F-T. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

RAFT -> RIFT -> RIOT -> ROOT -> LOOT -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0RAFTStart

Step 1RIFTBridge

Step 2RIOTBridge

Step 3ROOTBridge

Step 4LOOTBridge

Step 5LOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1RAFT -> RIFT

Tile 2 changes A to I; the move is sideways by letter shape. RIFT has 7 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RAFT include HAFT, RANT, DAFT, RAPT.
Step 2RIFT -> RIOT

Tile 3 changes F to O; the move is closer by letter shape. RIOT has 2 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RIFT include LIFT, GIFT, SIFT, RIFF.
Step 3RIOT -> ROOT

Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. ROOT has 15 legal neighbors, 5 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. RIOT has no additional off-route exit in the sampled branch set.
Step 4ROOT -> LOOT

Tile 1 changes R to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LOOT has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROOT include BOOT, ROOF, HOOT, COOT.
Step 5LOOT -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from LOOT include LOOK, BOOT, LOOM, LOON.
Step 6LOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 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 LOOP include COOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

RAFT has 7 legal one-letter neighbors. RIFT, HAFT keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin RANT (+1), DAFT (+1), RAPT (+1), WAFT (+1).

Compare 7 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
RIFT	2: A -> I	6	Keeps par	6
HAFT	1: R -> H	6	Keeps par	1
RANT	3: F -> N	7	Adds 1 move	4
DAFT	1: R -> D	7	Adds 1 move	2
RAPT	3: F -> P	7	Adds 1 move	2
WAFT	1: R -> W	7	Adds 1 move	2
RAFF	4: T -> F	8	Adds 2 moves	17

RAFT opening fingerprint

RAFT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: HAFT, DAFT, WAFT; tile 2: RIFT; tile 3: RANT, RAPT; tile 4: RAFF. Two moves from the start, 32 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is HALT, LIFT, CANT, DEFT, GIFT, HAFT, HART, HEFT, RANK, RAPS, SIFT, WEFT, DAFT, DART, GAFF, GANT, PANT, RAND, RANG, RANT, RAPT, RENT, RIFE, RIFF.

Your route

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Graph reading

RIOT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After RIFT becomes RIOT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as LIFT, GIFT, SIFT, RIFF 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: live Graph synced: 2026-08-16 14:40 UTC Puzzle date: October 4, 2026