Historical route lab

Poople #462 GAIN Answer

Poople #462 started at GAIN on November 19, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence G>L, A>O, I>O, N>P, L>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

Replay GAIN Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for GAIN, including 8 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

GAIN route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves81 keep par

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

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-A-I-N. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

GAIN -> LAIN -> LOIN -> LOON -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0GAINStart

Step 1LAINBridge

Step 2LOINBridge

Step 3LOONBridge

Step 4LOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1GAIN -> LAIN

Tile 1 changes G to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LAIN has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GAIN include MAIN, PAIN, RAIN, VAIN.
Step 2LAIN -> LOIN

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOIN has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LAIN include MAIN, PAIN, RAIN, LAID.
Step 3LOIN -> LOON

Tile 3 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOON has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOIN include LOAN, JOIN, COIN.
Step 4LOON -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes N to P; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from LOON include LOOK, LOOM, BOON, LOOT.
Step 5LOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 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 LOOP include COOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

GAIN has 8 legal one-letter neighbors, but only LAIN keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin MAIN (+1), PAIN (+1), RAIN (+1), VAIN (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
LAIN	1: G -> L	5	Keeps par	1
MAIN	1: G -> M	6	Adds 1 move	1
PAIN	1: G -> P	6	Adds 1 move	2
RAIN	1: G -> R	6	Adds 1 move	1
VAIN	1: G -> V	6	Adds 1 move	1
GRIN	2: A -> R	6	Adds 1 move	2
FAIN	1: G -> F	6	Adds 1 move	2
GAIT	4: N -> T	7	Adds 2 moves	3

GAIN opening fingerprint

GAIN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: LAIN, MAIN, PAIN, RAIN, VAIN, FAIN; tile 2: GRIN; tile 4: GAIT. Two moves from the start, 31 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is FAIL, GRIM, GRIP, PAIL, FAIN, FAIR, GRAN, GRID, GRIT, LAID, LAIR, LAWN, MAIL, MAIN, PAID, PAIN, PAIR, RAID, RAIL, RAIN, VAIN, BAIT, FAWN, GANT.

Your route

Compare a path you played

Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.

Graph reading

LOIN is the narrowest displayed bridge

After LAIN becomes LOIN, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as MAIN, PAIN, RAIN, LAID 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: live Graph synced: 2026-08-18 11:05 UTC Puzzle date: November 19, 2026