Historical route lab

Poople #481 SHUT Answer

Poople #481 started at SHUT on December 8, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence U>O, T>P, S>C, H>O, C>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 SHUT, including 5 legal openings and route signature 3-4-1-2-1.
Calculated from the current word graph

SHUT route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes8Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves51 keep par
Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 3-4-1-2-1
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 S-H-U-T. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

SHUT -> SHOT -> SHOP -> CHOP -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0SHUTStart
Step 1SHOTBridge
Step 2SHOPBridge
Step 3CHOPBridge
Step 4COOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1SHUT -> 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, SHUN.

  2. Step 2SHOT -> 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.

  3. Step 3SHOP -> 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.

  4. Step 4CHOP -> 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.

  5. Step 5COOP -> 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?

SHUT has 5 legal one-letter neighbors, but only SHOT keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin SHIT (+1), SHAT (+1), SMUT (+2), SHUN (+2).

Compare 5 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
SHOT3: U -> O5Keeps par8
SHIT3: U -> I6Adds 1 move16
SHAT3: U -> A6Adds 1 move18
SMUT2: H -> M7Adds 2 moves10
SHUN4: T -> N7Adds 2 moves14

SHUT opening fingerprint

SHUT groups its legal first moves as tile 2: SMUT; tile 3: SHOT, SHIT, SHAT; tile 4: SHUN. Two moves from the start, 38 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is SLOT, SOOT, CHAT, CHIT, PHAT, SHIP, SHOD, SHOE, SHOO, SHOW, SLAT, SLIT, SNOT, SPOT, SCAT, SEAT, SHAG, SHAM, SHAT, SHAW, SHIM, SHIN, SHIT, SHIV.

Your route

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Graph reading

CHOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After SHOP becomes CHOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SLOP, STOP, SHOW, SHIP 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 04:29 UTC Puzzle date: December 8, 2026