Historical route lab

Poople #417 PAIR Answer

Poople #417 started at PAIR on October 5, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence R>L, I>L, A>O, L>O, L>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

Replay PAIR Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for PAIR, including 6 legal openings and route signature 4-3-2-3-4.

Calculated from the current word graph

PAIR route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves61 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

PAIR -> PAIL -> PALL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0PAIRStart

Step 1PAILBridge

Step 2PALLBridge

Step 3POLLBridge

Step 4POOLBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1PAIR -> PAIL

Tile 4 changes R to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PAIL has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAIR include PAID, FAIR, PAIN, LAIR.
Step 2PAIL -> PALL

Tile 3 changes I to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PALL has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAIL include FAIL, TAIL, MAIL, PAID.
Step 3PALL -> POLL

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PALL include PULL, PILL, CALL, FALL.
Step 4POLL -> POOL

Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POLL include ROLL, TOLL, PULL, PILL.
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?

PAIR has 6 legal one-letter neighbors, but only PAIL keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin PAID (+1), FAIR (+1), PAIN (+1), LAIR (+1).

Compare 6 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
PAIL	4: R -> L	5	Keeps par	1
PAID	4: R -> D	6	Adds 1 move	1
FAIR	1: P -> F	6	Adds 1 move	1
PAIN	4: R -> N	6	Adds 1 move	2
LAIR	1: P -> L	6	Adds 1 move	1
HAIR	1: P -> H	7	Adds 2 moves	7

PAIR opening fingerprint

PAIR groups its legal first moves as tile 1: FAIR, LAIR, HAIR; tile 4: PAIL, PAID, PAIN. Two moves from the start, 27 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is FAIL, LAIN, TAIL, BAIL, FAIN, FAIR, GAIN, HAIL, JAIL, LAID, LAIR, MAIL, MAIN, NAIL, PAID, PAIN, RAID, RAIL, RAIN, SAID, SAIL, VAIN, WAIL, HAIR.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After POLL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as ROLL, TOLL, PULL, PILL show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 3
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 15:35 UTC Puzzle date: October 5, 2026