Poople #549 started at WHIZ on February 14, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence Z>P, W>C, I>O, H>O, C>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.
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 W-H-I-Z. 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
WHIZ -> WHIP -> CHIP -> CHOP -> COOP -> POOP
Step 0WHIZStart
Step 1WHIPBridge
Step 2CHIPBridge
Step 3CHOPBridge
Step 4COOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1WHIZ -> WHIP
Tile 4 changes Z to P; the move is closer by letter shape. WHIP has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WHIZ include WHIT, WHIM, WHIR.
Step 2WHIP -> CHIP
Tile 1 changes W to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CHIP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WHIP include SHIP, WHAP, WHIT, WHIM.
Step 3CHIP -> CHOP
Tile 3 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CHOP has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CHIP include CLIP, CHAP, SHIP, CHIN.
Step 4CHOP -> COOP
Tile 2 changes H to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from CHOP include CROP, CLOP, SHOP, CHAP.
Step 5COOP -> POOP
Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COOP include LOOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
WHIZ has 4 legal one-letter neighbors, but only WHIP keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin WHIT (+1), WHIM (+1), WHIR (+1).
Compare 4 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
WHIP
4: Z -> P
5
Keeps par
1
WHIT
4: Z -> T
6
Adds 1 move
2
WHIM
4: Z -> M
6
Adds 1 move
1
WHIR
4: Z -> R
6
Adds 1 move
1
WHIZ opening fingerprint
WHIZ groups its legal first moves as tile 4: WHIP, WHIT, WHIM, WHIR. Two moves from the start, 15 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CHIT, SHIP, WHAP, SHIM, SHIT, WHAM, WHAT, WHIM, WHIR, WHIT, WAIT, WEIR, WHET, WHOM, WRIT.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
WHIP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After WHIZ becomes WHIP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as WHIT, WHIM, WHIR 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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-21 22:01 UTCPuzzle date: February 14, 2027