Historical route lab

Poople #496 PAPA Answer

Poople #496 started at PAPA on December 23, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence A>U, P>M, A>P, U>O, M>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for PAPA, including 2 legal openings and route signature 2-3-4-2-3.
Calculated from the current word graph

PAPA route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves21 keep par
Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 2-3-4-2-3
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 P-A-P-A. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

PAPA -> PUPA -> PUMA -> PUMP -> POMP -> POOP

Step 0PAPAStart
Step 1PUPABridge
Step 2PUMABridge
Step 3PUMPBridge
Step 4POMPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1PAPA -> PUPA

    Tile 2 changes A to U; the move is sideways by letter shape. PUPA has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAPA include PAPS.

  2. Step 2PUPA -> PUMA

    Tile 3 changes P to M; the move is sideways by letter shape. PUMA has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PUPA include PULA, PUJA, PUPS.

  3. Step 3PUMA -> PUMP

    Tile 4 changes A to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PUMP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PUMA include PULA, PUJA, LUMA.

  4. Step 4PUMP -> POMP

    Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PUMP include PIMP, JUMP, DUMP, BUMP.

  5. Step 5POMP -> POOP

    Tile 3 changes M to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POMP include COMP, PIMP, ROMP, POME.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

PAPA has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only PUPA keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin PAPS (+1).

Compare 2 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
PUPA2: A -> U5Keeps par1
PAPS4: A -> S6Adds 1 move5

PAPA opening fingerprint

PAPA groups its legal first moves as tile 2: PUPA; tile 4: PAPS. Two moves from the start, 26 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CAPS, PALS, POPS, PUJA, PULA, DAPS, GAPS, HAPS, LAPS, MAPS, NAPS, PADS, PANS, PARS, PASS, PATS, PAWS, PAYS, PEPS, PIPS, PUPS, RAPS, SAPS, TAPS.

Your route

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Graph reading

PUPA is the narrowest displayed bridge

After PAPA becomes PUPA, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as PAPS show what the route declined.

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

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 19:28 UTC Puzzle date: December 23, 2026