Historical route lab

Poople #511 KEEL Answer

Poople #511 started at KEEL on January 7, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence L>P, K>P, E>R, E>O, 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 KEEL, including 6 legal openings and route signature 4-1-2-3-2.
Calculated from the current word graph

KEEL route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves62 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 4-1-2-3-2
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 K-E-E-L. 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

KEEL -> KEEP -> PEEP -> PREP -> PROP -> POOP

Step 0KEELStart
Step 1KEEPBridge
Step 2PEEPBridge
Step 3PREPBridge
Step 4PROPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1KEEL -> KEEP

    Tile 4 changes L to P; the move is closer by letter shape. KEEP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from KEEL include PEEL, FEEL, REEL, KEEN.

  2. Step 2KEEP -> PEEP

    Tile 1 changes K to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PEEP has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from KEEP include DEEP, BEEP, WEEP, SEEP.

  3. Step 3PEEP -> 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 DEEP, PEER, PEEL, PEEK.

  4. Step 4PREP -> 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.

  5. Step 5PROP -> 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?

KEEL has 6 legal one-letter neighbors. KEEP, PEEL keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin FEEL (+1), REEL (+1), KEEN (+1), HEEL (+1).

Compare 6 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
KEEP4: L -> P5Keeps par1
PEEL1: K -> P5Keeps par1
FEEL1: K -> F6Adds 1 move1
REEL1: K -> R6Adds 1 move1
KEEN4: L -> N6Adds 1 move2
HEEL1: K -> H6Adds 1 move2

KEEL opening fingerprint

KEEL groups its legal first moves as tile 1: PEEL, FEEL, REEL, HEEL; tile 4: KEEP, KEEN. Two moves from the start, 34 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BEEP, DEEP, HEED, PEED, PEEK, PEEL, PEEN, PEER, PEES, SEEP, WEEP, BEEN, FEED, FEEL, FEES, FELL, FUEL, HEEL, HELL, KEEN, KELP, KEMP, PEAL, REED.

Your route

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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 DEEP, PEER, PEEL, PEEK show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
1
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: 2026-08-20 10:07 UTC Puzzle date: January 7, 2027