Poople #440 started at CRUX on October 28, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence X>D, U>E, D>W, E>O, W>P, C>P, R>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 C-R-U-X. 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.
Tile 4 changes X to D; the move is sideways by letter shape. CRUD has 2 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 6 moves remaining. CRUX has no additional off-route exit in the sampled branch set.
Step 2CRUD -> CRED
Tile 3 changes U to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. CRED has 5 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. CRUD has no additional off-route exit in the sampled branch set.
Step 3CRED -> CREW
Tile 4 changes D to W; the move is sideways by letter shape. CREW has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CRED include COED, BRED, CUED.
Step 4CREW -> CROW
Tile 3 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CROW has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CREW include GREW, BREW, CHEW, CRAW.
Step 5CROW -> CROP
Tile 4 changes W to P; the move is closer by letter shape. CROP has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CROW include PROW, GROW, CHOW, BROW.
Step 6CROP -> PROP
Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from CROP include COOP, DROP, CHOP, CLOP.
Step 7PROP -> POOP
Tile 2 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PROP include PLOP, DROP, PREP, PROS.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
CRUX has 1 legal one-letter neighbors, but only CRUD keeps the route at 7 moves. Nearby detours begin outside the sampled opening set.
Compare 1 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
CRUD
4: X -> D
7
Keeps par
4
CRUX opening fingerprint
CRUX groups its legal first moves as tile 4: CRUD. Two moves from the start, 0 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is empty.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
CRUD is the narrowest displayed bridge
After CRUX becomes CRUD, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as no sampled off-route word show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
3
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 12:46 UTCPuzzle date: October 28, 2026