Historical route lab

Poople #525 MOTH Answer

Poople #525 started at MOTH on January 21, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence M>B, H>S, T>O, S>P, B>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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

Calculated from the current word graph

MOTH 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 1-4-3-4-1

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 M-O-T-H. 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.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

MOTH -> BOTH -> BOTS -> BOOS -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0MOTHStart

Step 1BOTHBridge

Step 2BOTSBridge

Step 3BOOSBridge

Step 4BOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MOTH -> BOTH

Tile 1 changes M to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BOTH has 5 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MOTH include GOTH, MOTE, MOSH, LOTH.
Step 2BOTH -> BOTS

Tile 4 changes H to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. BOTS has 22 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOTH include BATH, GOTH, LOTH.
Step 3BOTS -> BOOS

Tile 3 changes T to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOS has 21 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOTS include BOYS, BOSS, BOWS, COTS.
Step 4BOOS -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOP has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from BOOS include BOOK, BOOT, BOOB, BOOM.
Step 5BOOP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

MOTH has 8 legal one-letter neighbors, but only BOTH keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin GOTH (+1), MOTE (+1), MOSH (+1), LOTH (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BOTH	1: M -> B	5	Keeps par	1
GOTH	1: M -> G	6	Adds 1 move	1
MOTE	4: H -> E	6	Adds 1 move	10
MOSH	3: T -> S	6	Adds 1 move	14
LOTH	1: M -> L	6	Adds 1 move	4
MATH	2: O -> A	7	Adds 2 moves	5
MYTH	2: O -> Y	7	Adds 2 moves	1
METH	2: O -> E	7	Adds 2 moves	1

MOTH opening fingerprint

MOTH groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BOTH, GOTH, LOTH; tile 2: MATH, MYTH, METH; tile 3: MOSH; tile 4: MOTE. Two moves from the start, 41 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is COSH, COTE, DOTE, LOCH, LOTS, MOLE, MOPE, MORE, MOSS, MOST, POSH, TOTE, BATH, DOSH, GOSH, GOTH, JOSH, LOTH, MATS, MODE, MOVE, NOSH, NOTE, ROTE.

Your route

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Graph reading

BOTH is the narrowest displayed bridge

After MOTH becomes BOTH, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as GOTH, MOTE, MOSH, LOTH show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 3
Sideways steps: 2
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 1

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 23:01 UTC Puzzle date: January 21, 2027