Historical route lab

Poople #489 LUBE Answer

Poople #489 started at LUBE on December 16, 2026. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence U>O, B>S, E>T, S>O, T>P, L>P, with 4 par-preserving first moves.

Replay LUBE Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for LUBE, including 9 legal openings and route signature 2-3-4-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

LUBE route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes11Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves94 keep par

Route shapeflexible openingLetter positions 2-3-4-3-4-1

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 L-U-B-E. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 4 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

LUBE -> LOBE -> LOSE -> LOST -> LOOT -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0LUBEStart

Step 1LOBEBridge

Step 2LOSEBridge

Step 3LOSTBridge

Step 4LOOTBridge

Step 5LOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1LUBE -> LOBE

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOBE has 9 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LUBE include CUBE, LURE, PUBE, TUBE.
Step 2LOBE -> LOSE

Tile 3 changes B to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. LOSE has 14 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOBE include LORE, LOPE, LOBS, LOVE.
Step 3LOSE -> LOST

Tile 4 changes E to T; the move is sideways by letter shape. LOST has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOSE include POSE, LOSS, ROSE, DOSE.
Step 4LOST -> LOOT

Tile 3 changes S to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOT has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOST include COST, HOST, LOFT, LOUT.
Step 5LOOT -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from LOOT include LOOK, BOOT, LOOM, LOON.
Step 6LOOP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

LUBE has 9 legal one-letter neighbors. CUBE, LURE, LOBE, PUBE keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin TUBE (+1), LUTE (+1), LUGE (+1), LUNE (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
CUBE	1: L -> C	6	Keeps par	1
LURE	3: B -> R	6	Keeps par	2
LOBE	2: U -> O	6	Keeps par	6
PUBE	1: L -> P	6	Keeps par	2
TUBE	1: L -> T	7	Adds 1 move	6
LUTE	3: B -> T	7	Adds 1 move	8
LUGE	3: B -> G	7	Adds 1 move	5
LUNE	3: B -> N	7	Adds 1 move	19

LUBE opening fingerprint

LUBE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: CUBE, PUBE, TUBE, RUBE; tile 2: LOBE; tile 3: LURE, LUTE, LUGE, LUNE. Two moves from the start, 45 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CUBS, LOBS, LOPE, LORE, PUKE, PURE, CUBE, CURE, CUTE, DUNE, JURE, LINE, LIRE, LITE, LODE, LONE, LOVE, LUGS, LURE, LURK, LYRE, PUBE, PUBS, PUCE.

Your route

Compare a path you played

Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.

Graph reading

LOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After LOOT becomes LOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as LOOK, BOOT, LOOM, LOON show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 2
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 3

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 12:36 UTC Puzzle date: December 16, 2026