Historical route lab

Poople #480 YARN Answer

Poople #480 started at YARN on December 7, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence Y>B, A>O, R>O, N>P, B>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for YARN, including 6 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1.
Calculated from the current word graph

YARN route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves61 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 Y-A-R-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

YARN -> BARN -> BORN -> BOON -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0YARNStart
Step 1BARNBridge
Step 2BORNBridge
Step 3BOONBridge
Step 4BOOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1YARN -> BARN

    Tile 1 changes Y to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BARN has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from YARN include EARN, WARN, DARN, YARD.

  2. Step 2BARN -> BORN

    Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BORN has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BARN include BURN, BARS, EARN, BARE.

  3. Step 3BORN -> BOON

    Tile 3 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOON has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BORN include PORN, BURN, CORN, HORN.

  4. Step 4BOON -> BOOP

    Tile 4 changes N to P; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOP has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from BOON include BOOK, BOOT, BOOB, BOOM.

  5. Step 5BOOP -> POOP

    Tile 1 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOOP include LOOP, COOP, HOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

YARN has 6 legal one-letter neighbors, but only BARN keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin EARN (+1), WARN (+1), DARN (+1), YARD (+2).

Compare 6 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
BARN1: Y -> B5Keeps par1
EARN1: Y -> E6Adds 1 move1
WARN1: Y -> W6Adds 1 move2
DARN1: Y -> D6Adds 1 move1
YARD4: N -> D7Adds 2 moves9
YAWN3: R -> W7Adds 2 moves8

YARN opening fingerprint

YARN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BARN, EARN, WARN, DARN; tile 3: YAWN; tile 4: YARD. Two moves from the start, 34 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BURN, WORN, BARB, BARD, BARE, BARF, BARK, BARS, CARD, DAMN, DARE, DARK, DARN, DAWN, EARN, EARS, LAWN, SAWN, WARD, WARE, WARN, WARP, YAWS, DART.

Your route

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Graph reading

BORN is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BARN becomes BORN, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BURN, BARS, EARN, BARE 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: 2026-08-19 03:24 UTC Puzzle date: December 7, 2026