Historical route lab

Poople #494 SUNS Answer

Poople #494 started at SUNS on December 21, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence U>O, S>C, N>O, S>P, C>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for SUNS, including 17 legal openings and route signature 2-1-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

SUNS route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves172 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

SUNS -> SONS -> CONS -> COOS -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0SUNSStart

Step 1SONSBridge

Step 2CONSBridge

Step 3COOSBridge

Step 4COOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1SUNS -> SONS

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. SONS has 18 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SUNS include SUMS, RUNS, SANS, SINS.
Step 2SONS -> CONS

Tile 1 changes S to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CONS has 19 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SONS include TONS, IONS, HONS, MONS.
Step 3CONS -> COOS

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOS has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CONS include COPS, COWS, COTS, COGS.
Step 4COOS -> COOP

Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COOS include COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT.
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?

SUNS has 17 legal one-letter neighbors. SONS, SUMS keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin RUNS (+1), SANS (+1), SINS (+1), SUBS (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
SONS	2: U -> O	5	Keeps par	1
SUMS	3: N -> M	5	Keeps par	1
RUNS	1: S -> R	6	Adds 1 move	2
SANS	2: U -> A	6	Adds 1 move	2
SINS	2: U -> I	6	Adds 1 move	1
SUBS	3: N -> B	6	Adds 1 move	5
SUES	3: N -> E	6	Adds 1 move	1
SUNK	4: S -> K	6	Adds 1 move	2

SUNS opening fingerprint

SUNS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: RUNS, BUNS, PUNS, GUNS, NUNS, FUNS; tile 2: SONS, SANS, SINS; tile 3: SUMS, SUBS, SUES, SUDS, SUSS, SUPS; tile 4: SUNK, SUNG. Two moves from the start, 131 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is SUMP, BUBS, BUDS, BUGS, BUMS, BUNK, BUTS, BUYS, CANS, CUBS, CUPS, DONS, EONS, HONS, HUMS, HUNK, IONS, MONS, PONS, RUMS, SOBS, SODS, SOGS, SOPS.

Your route

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Graph reading

COOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After COOS becomes COOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT 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 17:30 UTC Puzzle date: December 21, 2026