Poople #451 started at REPO on November 8, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence O>S, E>A, R>C, A>O, P>O, S>P, C>P, with 2 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 R-E-P-O. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Tile 4 changes O to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. REPS has 9 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from REPO include REDO, RENO.
Step 2REPS -> RAPS
Tile 2 changes E to A; the move is sideways by letter shape. RAPS has 21 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from REPS include REDS, REGS, PEPS, REFS.
Step 3RAPS -> CAPS
Tile 1 changes R to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CAPS has 23 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RAPS include RAMS, MAPS, RATS, RAYS.
Step 4CAPS -> COPS
Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COPS has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CAPS include CATS, CAMS, CUPS, CANS.
Step 5COPS -> COOS
Tile 3 changes P to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOS has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COPS include CONS, COWS, COTS, COGS.
Step 6COOS -> COOP
Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COOS include COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT.
Step 7COOP -> POOP
Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COOP include LOOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
REPO has 3 legal one-letter neighbors. REPS, REDO keep the route at 7 moves, while sampled detours begin RENO (+1).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
REPS
4: O -> S
7
Keeps par
10
REDO
3: P -> D
7
Keeps par
3
RENO
3: P -> N
8
Adds 1 move
11
REPO opening fingerprint
REPO groups its legal first moves as tile 3: REDO, RENO; tile 4: REPS. Two moves from the start, 10 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is PEPS, REDS, REGS, RECS, REDO, REFS, RENT, REVS, RIPS, RENO.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
COOP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After COOS becomes COOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
3
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
4
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 23:13 UTCPuzzle date: November 8, 2026