Historical route lab

Poople #497 GAIT Answer

Poople #497 started at GAIT on December 24, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>R, T>P, G>D, I>O, D>P, R>O, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for GAIT, including 5 legal openings and route signature 2-4-1-3-1-2.
Calculated from the current word graph

GAIT route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves52 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 2-4-1-3-1-2
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 G-A-I-T. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

GAIT -> GRIT -> GRIP -> DRIP -> DROP -> PROP -> POOP

Step 0GAITStart
Step 1GRITBridge
Step 2GRIPBridge
Step 3DRIPBridge
Step 4DROPBridge
Step 5PROPBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1GAIT -> GRIT

    Tile 2 changes A to R; the move is sideways by letter shape. GRIT has 6 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GAIT include GAIN, WAIT, BAIT, GANT.

  2. Step 2GRIT -> 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.

  3. Step 3GRIP -> 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.

  4. Step 4DRIP -> 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.

  5. Step 5DROP -> 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.

  6. Step 6PROP -> 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?

GAIT has 5 legal one-letter neighbors. GAIN, GRIT keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin WAIT (+1), BAIT (+1), GANT (+1).

Compare 5 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
GAIN4: T -> N6Keeps par1
GRIT2: A -> R6Keeps par2
WAIT1: G -> W7Adds 1 move6
BAIT1: G -> B7Adds 1 move13
GANT3: I -> N7Adds 1 move2

GAIT opening fingerprint

GAIT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: WAIT, BAIT; tile 2: GRIT; tile 3: GANT; tile 4: GAIN. Two moves from the start, 26 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is GRIM, LAIN, BAIL, BAST, CANT, FAIN, GRID, GRIN, MAIN, PAIN, RAIN, VAIN, WAIL, WHIT, BAHT, BAIT, GANG, PANT, RANT, WAFT, WAIF, WAIT, WANT, WART.

Your route

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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
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 20:23 UTC Puzzle date: December 24, 2026