Historical route lab

Poople #550 RANG Answer

Poople #550 started at RANG on February 15, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence G>K, R>B, A>O, N>O, K>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 RANG, including 14 legal openings and route signature 4-1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

RANG route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes5Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves143 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

RANG -> RANK -> BANK -> BONK -> BOOK -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0RANGStart

Step 1RANKBridge

Step 2BANKBridge

Step 3BONKBridge

Step 4BOOKBridge

Step 5BOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1RANG -> RANK

Tile 4 changes G to K; the move is sideways by letter shape. RANK has 13 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RANG include BANG, HANG, GANG, RAND.
Step 2RANK -> BANK

Tile 1 changes R to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BANK has 18 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from RANK include HANK, TANK, RACK, SANK.
Step 3BANK -> BONK

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BONK has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BANK include BACK, HANK, BUNK, BAND.
Step 4BONK -> BOOK

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOK has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BONK include BOCK, HONK, CONK, BOND.
Step 5BOOK -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes K 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 BOOK include LOOK, COOK, BOOT, HOOK.
Step 6BOOP -> 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?

RANG has 14 legal one-letter neighbors. RANK, BANG, HANG keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin GANG (+1), RAND (+1), YANG (+1), RANT (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
RANK	4: G -> K	6	Keeps par	2
BANG	1: R -> B	6	Keeps par	2
HANG	1: R -> H	6	Keeps par	1
GANG	1: R -> G	7	Adds 1 move	4
RAND	4: G -> D	7	Adds 1 move	8
YANG	1: R -> Y	7	Adds 1 move	5
RANT	4: G -> T	7	Adds 1 move	4
SANG	1: R -> S	7	Adds 1 move	10

RANG opening fingerprint

RANG groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BANG, HANG, GANG, YANG, SANG, TANG, DANG, FANG, PANG; tile 2: RUNG, RING; tile 4: RANK, RAND, RANT. Two moves from the start, 65 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BONG, HANK, BAND, BANE, BANG, BANS, BUNG, CANT, DANK, DONG, FANS, GONG, HAND, HANG, HUNG, LANK, PANE, PANS, PONG, RACK, RAID, RUNS, SANE, SANK.

Your route

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Graph reading

BOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BOOK becomes BOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as LOOK, COOK, BOOT, HOOK show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 2
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 23:05 UTC Puzzle date: February 15, 2027