Historical route lab

Poople #498 WHIT Answer

Poople #498 started at WHIT on December 25, 2026. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence T>P, W>C, I>O, H>O, C>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Replay WHIT Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for WHIT, including 10 legal openings and route signature 4-1-3-2-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

WHIT route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves102 keep par

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

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 W-H-I-T. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

WHIT -> WHIP -> CHIP -> CHOP -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0WHITStart

Step 1WHIPBridge

Step 2CHIPBridge

Step 3CHOPBridge

Step 4COOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1WHIT -> WHIP

Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. WHIP has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WHIT include CHIT, WHAT, SHIT, WHIM.
Step 2WHIP -> CHIP

Tile 1 changes W to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CHIP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WHIP include SHIP, WHAP, WHIM, WHIZ.
Step 3CHIP -> CHOP

Tile 3 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CHOP has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CHIP include CLIP, CHAP, SHIP, CHIN.
Step 4CHOP -> COOP

Tile 2 changes H to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from CHOP include CROP, CLOP, SHOP, CHAP.
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?

WHIT has 10 legal one-letter neighbors. WHIP, CHIT keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin WHAT (+1), SHIT (+1), WHIM (+1), WHIZ (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
WHIP	4: T -> P	5	Keeps par	1
CHIT	1: W -> C	5	Keeps par	1
WHAT	3: I -> A	6	Adds 1 move	5
SHIT	1: W -> S	6	Adds 1 move	16
WHIM	4: T -> M	6	Adds 1 move	1
WHIZ	4: T -> Z	6	Adds 1 move	1
WHIR	4: T -> R	6	Adds 1 move	1
WAIT	2: H -> A	7	Adds 2 moves	6

WHIT opening fingerprint

WHIT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: CHIT, SHIT; tile 2: WAIT, WRIT; tile 3: WHAT, WHET; tile 4: WHIP, WHIM, WHIZ, WHIR. Two moves from the start, 45 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CHAT, CHIA, CHIC, CHIN, CHIT, CLIT, PHAT, SHIP, SHOT, SLIT, WHAP, GRIT, SHAT, SHIM, SHIN, SHIT, SHIV, SHUT, SKIT, SNIT, SPIT, SUIT, THAT, WAIL.

Your route

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Graph reading

WHIP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After WHIT becomes WHIP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as CHIT, WHAT, SHIT, WHIM 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 21:23 UTC Puzzle date: December 25, 2026