Historical route lab

Poople #540 PATH Answer

Poople #540 started at PATH on February 5, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence H>E, T>L, A>O, E>L, L>O, L>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 PATH, including 6 legal openings and route signature 4-3-2-4-3-4.
Calculated from the current word graph

PATH route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes11Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves63 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 4-3-2-4-3-4
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 P-A-T-H. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

PATH -> PATE -> PALE -> POLE -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0PATHStart
Step 1PATEBridge
Step 2PALEBridge
Step 3POLEBridge
Step 4POLLBridge
Step 5POOLBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1PATH -> PATE

    Tile 4 changes H to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. PATE has 16 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PATH include BATH, PATS, MATH, OATH.

  2. Step 2PATE -> PALE

    Tile 3 changes T to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PALE has 22 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PATE include PARE, PAGE, DATE, PACE.

  3. Step 3PALE -> POLE

    Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLE has 18 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PALE include PALL, PALM, PILE, PALS.

  4. Step 4POLE -> POLL

    Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POLE include POME, POPE, POLO, POLY.

  5. Step 5POLL -> POOL

    Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POLL include ROLL, TOLL, PULL, PILL.

  6. Step 6POOL -> POOP

    Tile 4 changes L to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POOL include POOR, POOF, TOOL, COOL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

PATH has 6 legal one-letter neighbors. BATH, PATE, PATS keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin MATH (+1), OATH (+1), PITH (+1).

Compare 6 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
BATH1: P -> B6Keeps par2
PATE4: H -> E6Keeps par4
PATS4: H -> S6Keeps par5
MATH1: P -> M7Adds 1 move5
OATH1: P -> O7Adds 1 move4
PITH2: A -> I7Adds 1 move4

PATH opening fingerprint

PATH groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BATH, MATH, OATH; tile 2: PITH; tile 4: PATE, PATS. Two moves from the start, 51 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BATS, BOTH, CATS, PALS, PARE, POTS, BASH, BATH, DATE, EATS, FATS, HATS, LATS, MATS, MOTH, OATS, PACE, PADS, PAGE, PANE, PANS, PAPS, PARS, PASS.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After POLL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as ROLL, TOLL, PULL, PILL show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
3
Sideways steps
3
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
4

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 13:18 UTC Puzzle date: February 5, 2027