Historical route lab

Poople #532 MEAT Answer

Poople #532 started at MEAT on January 28, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence M>B, E>O, A>O, T>P, B>P, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for MEAT, including 13 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

MEAT route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes10Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves133 keep par

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

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 M-E-A-T. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

MEAT -> BEAT -> BOAT -> BOOT -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0MEATStart

Step 1BEATBridge

Step 2BOATBridge

Step 3BOOTBridge

Step 4BOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MEAT -> BEAT

Tile 1 changes M to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BEAT has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MEAT include PEAT, MOAT, MEAN, HEAT.
Step 2BEAT -> BOAT

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOAT has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BEAT include BEAR, BELT, PEAT, BRAT.
Step 3BOAT -> BOOT

Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOT has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOAT include COAT, BOLT, BOUT, BOAR.
Step 4BOOT -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes T 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 BOOT include BOOK, BOOB, BOOM, BOON.
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?

MEAT has 13 legal one-letter neighbors. BEAT, PEAT, MOAT keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin MEAN (+1), HEAT (+1), SEAT (+1), FEAT (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BEAT	1: M -> B	5	Keeps par	1
PEAT	1: M -> P	5	Keeps par	2
MOAT	2: E -> O	5	Keeps par	7
MEAN	4: T -> N	6	Adds 1 move	6
HEAT	1: M -> H	6	Adds 1 move	4
SEAT	1: M -> S	6	Adds 1 move	9
FEAT	1: M -> F	6	Adds 1 move	7
NEAT	1: M -> N	6	Adds 1 move	3

MEAT opening fingerprint

MEAT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BEAT, PEAT, HEAT, SEAT, FEAT, NEAT, TEAT; tile 2: MOAT; tile 3: MELT, MEET; tile 4: MEAN, MEAL, MEAD. Two moves from the start, 98 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is COAT, MOOT, PLAT, BEAR, BELT, BLAT, BRAT, FLAT, GOAT, HEST, LEAN, MOAN, MOLT, MOST, PEAT, PHAT, PRAT, SLAT, BEAD, BEAK, BEAM, BEAN, BEAU, BEET.

Your route

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Graph reading

BOAT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BEAT becomes BOAT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BEAR, BELT, PEAT, BRAT 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: 2026-08-21 05:56 UTC Puzzle date: January 28, 2027