Poople #488 started at GRIT on December 15, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence T>P, G>D, I>O, D>P, R>O, with 2 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 G-R-I-T. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 5-move answer
GRIT -> GRIP -> DRIP -> DROP -> PROP -> POOP
Step 0GRITStart
Step 1GRIPBridge
Step 2DRIPBridge
Step 3DROPBridge
Step 4PROPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1GRIT -> GRIP
Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. GRIP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GRIT include GRIM, GRID, GRIN, WRIT.
Step 2GRIP -> DRIP
Tile 1 changes G to D; the move is sideways by letter shape. DRIP has 3 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GRIP include TRIP, GRIM, GRID, GRIN.
Step 3DRIP -> DROP
Tile 3 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. DROP has 3 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DRIP include TRIP.
Step 4DROP -> PROP
Tile 1 changes D to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from DROP include CROP.
Step 5PROP -> POOP
Tile 2 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PROP include PLOP, CROP, PREP, PROS.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
GRIT has 6 legal one-letter neighbors. GRIP, GRIM keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin GRID (+1), GRIN (+1), WRIT (+2), GAIT (+2).
Compare 6 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
GRIP
4: T -> P
5
Keeps par
1
GRIM
4: T -> M
5
Keeps par
1
GRID
4: T -> D
6
Adds 1 move
3
GRIN
4: T -> N
6
Adds 1 move
2
WRIT
1: G -> W
7
Adds 2 moves
4
GAIT
2: R -> A
7
Adds 2 moves
3
GRIT opening fingerprint
GRIT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: WRIT; tile 2: GAIT; tile 4: GRIP, GRIM, GRID, GRIN. Two moves from the start, 16 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is PRIM, BRIM, GRAD, GRAM, GRIM, TRIM, TRIP, GAIN, GRAN, GRID, GRIN, WHIT, ARID, BAIT, GANT, WAIT.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading
DRIP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After GRIP becomes DRIP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as TRIP, GRIM, GRID, GRIN 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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-19 11:29 UTCPuzzle date: December 15, 2026