Poople #502 started at GERM on December 29, 2026. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence G>P, M>P, R>E, E>R, E>O, R>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.
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-E-R-M. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Tile 1 changes G to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PERM has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GERM include TERM, BERM.
Step 2PERM -> PERP
Tile 4 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PERP has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PERM include PERT, PERK, TERM, BERM.
Step 3PERP -> PEEP
Tile 3 changes R to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. PEEP has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PERP include PERT, PERK, PARP.
Step 4PEEP -> PREP
Tile 2 changes E to R; the move is sideways by letter shape. PREP has 4 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PEEP include KEEP, DEEP, PEER, PEEL.
Step 5PREP -> PROP
Tile 3 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PREP include PREY, PREZ.
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, DROP, CROP, PROS.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
GERM has 3 legal one-letter neighbors, but only PERM keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin TERM (+1), BERM (+1).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
PERM
1: G -> P
6
Keeps par
1
TERM
1: G -> T
7
Adds 1 move
8
BERM
1: G -> B
7
Adds 1 move
5
GERM opening fingerprint
GERM groups its legal first moves as tile 1: PERM, TERM, BERM. Two moves from the start, 9 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BEAM, PERK, PERT, TEAM, TERN, BERG, BERM, TEEM, TERM.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
PREP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After PEEP becomes PREP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as KEEP, DEEP, PEER, PEEL show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-20 01:33 UTCPuzzle date: December 29, 2026