Historical route lab

Poople #422 GEMS Answer

Poople #422 started at GEMS on October 10, 2026. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence M>L, S>D, E>O, L>O, D>P, G>P, with 6 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for GEMS, including 9 legal openings and route signature 3-4-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

GEMS route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes14Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves96 keep par

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

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 G-E-M-S. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 6 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

GEMS -> GELS -> GELD -> GOLD -> GOOD -> GOOP -> POOP

Step 0GEMSStart

Step 1GELSBridge

Step 2GELDBridge

Step 3GOLDBridge

Step 4GOODBridge

Step 5GOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1GEMS -> GELS

Tile 3 changes M to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. GELS has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GEMS include GETS, GUMS, GEES, GAMS.
Step 2GELS -> GELD

Tile 4 changes S to D; the move is sideways by letter shape. GELD has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GELS include GETS, GALS, GEES, EELS.
Step 3GELD -> GOLD

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. GOLD has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GELD include HELD, GILD, WELD, MELD.
Step 4GOLD -> GOOD

Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. GOOD has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GOLD include GOLF, HOLD, GOAD, TOLD.
Step 5GOOD -> GOOP

Tile 4 changes D to P; the move is closer by letter shape. GOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from GOOD include HOOD, GOON, GOOF, FOOD.
Step 6GOOP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

GEMS has 9 legal one-letter neighbors. GETS, GELS, GUMS, GEES, GAMS, HEMS keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin GYMS (+1), GENS (+1), FEMS (+1).

Compare 9 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
GETS	3: M -> T	6	Keeps par	1
GELS	3: M -> L	6	Keeps par	1
GUMS	2: E -> U	6	Keeps par	5
GEES	3: M -> E	6	Keeps par	1
GAMS	2: E -> A	6	Keeps par	3
HEMS	1: G -> H	6	Keeps par	3
GYMS	2: E -> Y	7	Adds 1 move	8
GENS	3: M -> N	7	Adds 1 move	9
FEMS	1: G -> F	7	Adds 1 move	4

GEMS opening fingerprint

GEMS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: HEMS, FEMS; tile 2: GUMS, GAMS, GYMS; tile 3: GETS, GELS, GEES, GENS. Two moves from the start, 64 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BETS, BUMS, CAMS, HEME, HEMP, HUMS, PEES, RAMS, RUMS, SUMS, BEES, CUMS, DAMS, DENS, FEES, GABS, GAGS, GALS, GAME, GAMS, GAPS, GAYS, GEEK, GEES.

Your route

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Graph reading

GELS is the narrowest displayed bridge

After GEMS becomes GELS, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as GETS, GUMS, GEES, GAMS show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 2
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 19:58 UTC Puzzle date: October 10, 2026