Poople #448 started at KILN on November 5, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence N>L, K>P, I>O, L>O, L>P, 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 K-I-L-N. 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
KILN -> KILL -> PILL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP
Step 0KILNStart
Step 1KILLBridge
Step 2PILLBridge
Step 3POLLBridge
Step 4POOLBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1KILN -> KILL
Tile 4 changes N to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. KILL has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from KILN include KILT, KILO.
Step 2KILL -> PILL
Tile 1 changes K to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PILL has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from KILL include WILL, BILL, HILL, FILL.
Step 3PILL -> POLL
Tile 2 changes I 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 PILL include PULL, PALL, WILL, BILL.
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, DOLL.
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?
KILN has 3 legal one-letter neighbors, but only KILL keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin KILT (+1), KILO (+1).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
KILL
4: N -> L
5
Keeps par
1
KILT
4: N -> T
6
Adds 1 move
2
KILO
4: N -> O
6
Adds 1 move
1
KILN opening fingerprint
KILN groups its legal first moves as tile 4: KILL, KILT, KILO. Two moves from the start, 19 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BILL, DILL, FILL, GILL, HILL, HILT, MILL, RILL, SILL, TILL, WILL, GILT, KILO, KILT, LILT, SILO, SILT, TILT, WILT.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
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, DOLL show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
1
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-17 20:20 UTCPuzzle date: November 5, 2026