Poople #477 started at SHUN on December 4, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence N>T, U>O, T>P, S>C, H>O, C>P, with 3 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 S-H-U-N. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Tile 4 changes N to T; the move is sideways by letter shape. SHUT has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SHUN include SHIN, SPUN, STUN.
Step 2SHUT -> SHOT
Tile 3 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. SHOT has 12 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SHUT include SHIT, SHAT, SMUT.
Step 3SHOT -> SHOP
Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. SHOP has 9 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SHOT include SLOT, SOOT, SHOW, SPOT.
Step 4SHOP -> CHOP
Tile 1 changes S to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CHOP has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SHOP include SLOP, STOP, SHOW, SHIP.
Step 5CHOP -> COOP
Tile 2 changes H to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from CHOP include CROP, CLOP, CHIP, CHAP.
Step 6COOP -> 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?
SHUN has 4 legal one-letter neighbors. SHUT, SHIN, SPUN keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin STUN (+1).
Compare 4 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
SHUT
4: N -> T
6
Keeps par
8
SHIN
3: U -> I
6
Keeps par
5
SPUN
2: H -> P
6
Keeps par
1
STUN
2: H -> T
7
Adds 1 move
1
SHUN opening fingerprint
SHUN groups its legal first moves as tile 2: SPUN, STUN; tile 3: SHIN; tile 4: SHUT. Two moves from the start, 17 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CHIN, SHIP, SPUR, SHAT, SHIM, SHIT, SHIV, SKIN, SPUD, SPUN, THIN, SMUT, SPAN, SPIN, STUB, STUD, STUN.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
SHUT is the narrowest displayed bridge
After SHUN becomes SHUT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SHIN, SPUN, STUN show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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: 2026-08-19 00:36 UTCPuzzle date: December 4, 2026