Historical route lab

Poople #523 HUNT Answer

Poople #523 started at HUNT on January 19, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence T>K, U>O, N>O, K>P, H>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

Replay HUNT Scores & notes Browse archive

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

Calculated from the current word graph

HUNT route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves81 keep par

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

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 H-U-N-T. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

HUNT -> HUNK -> HONK -> HOOK -> HOOP -> POOP

Step 0HUNTStart

Step 1HUNKBridge

Step 2HONKBridge

Step 3HOOKBridge

Step 4HOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1HUNT -> HUNK

Tile 4 changes T to K; the move is sideways by letter shape. HUNK has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HUNT include HUNG, HINT, BUNT, HURT.
Step 2HUNK -> HONK

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HONK has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HUNK include HANK, BUNK, HUCK, PUNK.
Step 3HONK -> HOOK

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HOOK has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HONK include HOCK, BONK, CONK, MONK.
Step 4HOOK -> HOOP

Tile 4 changes K to P; the move is closer by letter shape. HOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from HOOK include BOOK, LOOK, COOK, HOOD.
Step 5HOOP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

HUNT has 8 legal one-letter neighbors, but only HUNK keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin HUNG (+1), HINT (+1), BUNT (+1), HURT (+2).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
HUNK	4: T -> K	5	Keeps par	1
HUNG	4: T -> G	6	Adds 1 move	1
HINT	2: U -> I	6	Adds 1 move	1
BUNT	1: H -> B	6	Adds 1 move	1
HURT	3: N -> R	7	Adds 2 moves	5
AUNT	1: H -> A	7	Adds 2 moves	2
PUNT	1: H -> P	7	Adds 2 moves	8
RUNT	1: H -> R	7	Adds 2 moves	5

HUNT opening fingerprint

HUNT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BUNT, AUNT, PUNT, RUNT; tile 2: HINT; tile 3: HURT; tile 4: HUNK, HUNG. Two moves from the start, 46 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BUNK, HANK, HILT, HUCK, BENT, BUNG, BUNS, BUNT, BUST, BUTT, CURT, DUNK, FUNK, GUNK, HANG, HART, HULK, HUNG, HURL, HUSK, JUNK, LINT, PENT, PUNK.

Your route

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Graph reading

HOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After HOOK becomes HOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BOOK, LOOK, COOK, HOOD 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 21:20 UTC Puzzle date: January 19, 2027