Poople #485 started at ANUS on December 12, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence U>D, N>I, A>B, I>O, D>O, S>P, B>P, with 1 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 A-N-U-S. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 7-move answer
ANUS -> ANDS -> AIDS -> BIDS -> BODS -> BOOS -> BOOP -> POOP
Step 0ANUSStart
Step 1ANDSBridge
Step 2AIDSBridge
Step 3BIDSBridge
Step 4BODSBridge
Step 5BOOSBridge
Step 6BOOPBridge
Step 7POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1ANUS -> ANDS
Tile 3 changes U to D; the move is sideways by letter shape. ANDS has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ANUS include ANTS, GNUS, ONUS.
Step 2ANDS -> AIDS
Tile 2 changes N to I; the move is sideways by letter shape. AIDS has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ANDS include ADDS, ENDS, ANTS.
Step 3AIDS -> BIDS
Tile 1 changes A to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BIDS has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from AIDS include KIDS, VIDS, LIDS, RIDS.
Step 4BIDS -> BODS
Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BODS has 21 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BIDS include BITS, BEDS, BIAS, BUDS.
Step 5BODS -> BOOS
Tile 3 changes D to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOS has 21 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BODS include BOYS, BOSS, BOTS, BOWS.
Step 6BOOS -> BOOP
Tile 4 changes S 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 BOOS include BOOK, BOOT, BOOB, BOOM.
Step 7BOOP -> 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?
ANUS has 4 legal one-letter neighbors, but only ANDS keeps the route at 7 moves. Nearby detours begin ANTS (+1), GNUS (+2), ONUS (+2).
Compare 4 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
ANDS
3: U -> D
7
Keeps par
1
ANTS
3: U -> T
8
Adds 1 move
1
GNUS
1: A -> G
9
Adds 2 moves
1
ONUS
1: A -> O
9
Adds 2 moves
5
ANUS opening fingerprint
ANUS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: GNUS, ONUS; tile 3: ANDS, ANTS. Two moves from the start, 12 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is ADDS, ANTS, APTS, ENDS, OPUS, ACTS, ANTE, ANTI, ARTS, GNUS, ONES, ONUS.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
ANDS is the narrowest displayed bridge
After ANUS becomes ANDS, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as ANTS, GNUS, ONUS show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
3
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
5
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 08:36 UTCPuzzle date: December 12, 2026