Historical route lab

Poople #506 SUNG Answer

Poople #506 started at SUNG on January 2, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence U>O, G>S, S>C, N>O, S>P, C>P, with 5 par-preserving first moves.

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

Calculated from the current word graph

SUNG route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes9Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves105 keep par

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

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 S-U-N-G. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 5 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

SUNG -> SONG -> SONS -> CONS -> COOS -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0SUNGStart

Step 1SONGBridge

Step 2SONSBridge

Step 3CONSBridge

Step 4COOSBridge

Step 5COOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1SUNG -> SONG

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. SONG has 10 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SUNG include HUNG, SUNS, SUNK, BUNG.
Step 2SONG -> SONS

Tile 4 changes G to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. SONS has 18 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SONG include BONG, LONG, DONG, GONG.
Step 3SONS -> CONS

Tile 1 changes S to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CONS has 19 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SONS include TONS, IONS, HONS, MONS.
Step 4CONS -> COOS

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOS has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CONS include COPS, COWS, COTS, COGS.
Step 5COOS -> COOP

Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COOS include COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT.
Step 6COOP -> 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?

SUNG has 10 legal one-letter neighbors. SONG, HUNG, SUNS, SUNK, BUNG keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin SING (+1), LUNG (+1), SANG (+1), DUNG (+1).

Compare 9 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
SONG	2: U -> O	6	Keeps par	2
HUNG	1: S -> H	6	Keeps par	1
SUNS	4: G -> S	6	Keeps par	2
SUNK	4: G -> K	6	Keeps par	2
BUNG	1: S -> B	6	Keeps par	2
SING	2: U -> I	7	Adds 1 move	3
LUNG	1: S -> L	7	Adds 1 move	4
SANG	2: U -> A	7	Adds 1 move	10
DUNG	1: S -> D	7	Adds 1 move	9

SUNG opening fingerprint

SUNG groups its legal first moves as tile 1: HUNG, BUNG, LUNG, DUNG, RUNG; tile 2: SONG, SING, SANG; tile 4: SUNS, SUNK. Two moves from the start, 66 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BONG, BUNK, HUNK, SUMS, BANG, BUNG, BUNS, BUNT, BURG, DONG, DUNE, DUNK, FUNK, GONG, GUNK, HANG, HUNG, HUNT, JUNK, LONG, PONG, PUNK, PUNS, RUNS.

Your route

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Graph reading

COOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After COOS becomes COOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT 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: 2026-08-20 05:42 UTC Puzzle date: January 2, 2027