Historical route lab

Poople #495 KIND Answer

Poople #495 started at KIND on December 22, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence K>F, I>O, N>O, D>L, F>P, L>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 KIND, including 9 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1-4.
Calculated from the current word graph

KIND route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes4Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves92 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 1-2-3-4-1-4
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 K-I-N-D. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

KIND -> FIND -> FOND -> FOOD -> FOOL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0KINDStart
Step 1FINDBridge
Step 2FONDBridge
Step 3FOODBridge
Step 4FOOLBridge
Step 5POOLBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1KIND -> FIND

    Tile 1 changes K to F; the move is sideways by letter shape. FIND has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from KIND include BIND, MIND, WIND, KINK.

  2. Step 2FIND -> FOND

    Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. FOND has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FIND include FUND, BIND, FEND, MIND.

  3. Step 3FOND -> FOOD

    Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. FOOD has 10 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FOND include FORD, FONT, BOND, FOLD.

  4. Step 4FOOD -> FOOL

    Tile 4 changes D to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. FOOL has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FOOD include GOOD, HOOD, WOOD, FOOT.

  5. Step 5FOOL -> POOL

    Tile 1 changes F to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from FOOL include TOOL, COOL, WOOL, FOOT.

  6. Step 6POOL -> POOP

    Tile 4 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 POOL include POOR, POOF, TOOL, COOL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

KIND has 9 legal one-letter neighbors. FIND, BIND keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin MIND (+1), WIND (+1), KINK (+1), RIND (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
FIND1: K -> F6Keeps par3
BIND1: K -> B6Keeps par1
MIND1: K -> M7Adds 1 move19
WIND1: K -> W7Adds 1 move6
KINK4: D -> K7Adds 1 move19
RIND1: K -> R7Adds 1 move8
KINE4: D -> E7Adds 1 move10
KINS4: D -> S7Adds 1 move9

KIND opening fingerprint

KIND groups its legal first moves as tile 1: FIND, BIND, MIND, WIND, RIND; tile 4: KINK, KINE, KINS, KING. Two moves from the start, 65 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOND, BAND, BEND, BIND, BINS, DINE, FEND, FUND, KICK, KIDS, KITS, LINE, LINK, MILD, MINK, PINE, PINS, RIAD, SINS, TINE, TINK, TINS, WILD, BIRD.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After FOOL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as TOOL, COOL, WOOL, FOOT show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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 18:28 UTC Puzzle date: December 22, 2026