Historical route lab

Poople #521 RAID Answer

Poople #521 started at RAID on January 17, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence A>O, I>O, R>G, D>P, G>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

Replay RAID Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for RAID, including 8 legal openings and route signature 2-3-1-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

RAID route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves81 keep par

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

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 R-A-I-D. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

RAID -> ROID -> ROOD -> GOOD -> GOOP -> POOP

Step 0RAIDStart

Step 1ROIDBridge

Step 2ROODBridge

Step 3GOODBridge

Step 4GOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1RAID -> ROID

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. ROID has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RAID include SAID, PAID, RAIN, RAIL.
Step 2ROID -> ROOD

Tile 3 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. ROOD has 11 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROID include ROAD, ROIL, VOID.
Step 3ROOD -> GOOD

Tile 1 changes R to G; the move is sideways by letter shape. GOOD has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ROOD include ROOF, HOOD, FOOD, ROOM.
Step 4GOOD -> GOOP

Tile 4 changes D to P; the move is closer by letter shape. GOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from GOOD include HOOD, GOON, GOOF, FOOD.
Step 5GOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes G to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GOOP include LOOP, COOP, HOOP, BOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

RAID has 8 legal one-letter neighbors, but only ROID keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin SAID (+1), PAID (+1), RAIN (+1), RAIL (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
ROID	2: A -> O	5	Keeps par	3
SAID	1: R -> S	6	Adds 1 move	1
PAID	1: R -> P	6	Adds 1 move	1
RAIN	4: D -> N	6	Adds 1 move	1
RAIL	4: D -> L	6	Adds 1 move	8
LAID	1: R -> L	6	Adds 1 move	1
RAND	3: I -> N	7	Adds 2 moves	8
MAID	1: R -> M	7	Adds 2 moves	11

RAID opening fingerprint

RAID groups its legal first moves as tile 1: SAID, PAID, LAID, MAID; tile 2: ROID; tile 3: RAND; tile 4: RAIN, RAIL. Two moves from the start, 43 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is FAIL, LAIN, PAIL, ROAD, ROIL, SLID, TAIL, BAIL, BAND, FAIN, GAIN, HAIL, HAND, JAIL, LAID, LAIR, LAUD, MAIL, MAIN, NAIL, PAID, PAIN, PAIR, RAIL.

Your route

Compare a path you played

Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.

Graph reading

ROID is the narrowest displayed bridge

After RAID becomes ROID, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SAID, PAID, RAIN, RAIL 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: 2026-08-20 19:37 UTC Puzzle date: January 17, 2027