Poople #436 started at ITEM on October 24, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence I>S, M>P, E>O, T>L, S>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 I-T-E-M. 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 I to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. STEM has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ITEM include IDEM.
Step 2STEM -> STEP
Tile 4 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. STEP has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from STEM include SEEM, STEW, STIM, STET.
Step 3STEP -> STOP
Tile 3 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. STOP has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from STEP include SEEP, STEW, STET.
Step 4STOP -> SLOP
Tile 2 changes T to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. SLOP has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from STOP include SHOP, ATOP, STOW.
Step 5SLOP -> PLOP
Tile 1 changes S 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 SLOP include FLOP, CLOP, GLOP, SHOP.
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?
ITEM has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only STEM keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin IDEM (+2).
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
STEM
1: I -> S
6
Keeps par
1
IDEM
2: T -> D
8
Adds 2 moves
1
ITEM opening fingerprint
ITEM groups its legal first moves as tile 1: STEM; tile 2: IDEM. Two moves from the start, 6 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is SEEM, STET, STEW, STIM, IDEA, IDES.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
STEP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After STEM becomes STEP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SEEM, STEW, STIM, STET 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: 2026-08-17 08:55 UTCPuzzle date: October 24, 2026