Historical route lab

Poople #555 BIKE Answer

Poople #555 started at BIKE on February 20, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence B>P, I>O, K>M, E>P, M>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

Replay BIKE Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for BIKE, including 9 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-3.

Calculated from the current word graph

BIKE route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes1Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves91 keep par

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

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 B-I-K-E. 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

BIKE -> PIKE -> POKE -> POME -> POMP -> POOP

Step 0BIKEStart

Step 1PIKEBridge

Step 2POKEBridge

Step 3POMEBridge

Step 4POMPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1BIKE -> PIKE

Tile 1 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PIKE has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BIKE include LIKE, MIKE, BITE, HIKE.
Step 2PIKE -> POKE

Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POKE has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PIKE include PIPE, PILE, PUKE, LIKE.
Step 3POKE -> POME

Tile 3 changes K to M; the move is sideways by letter shape. POME has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POKE include POLE, POPE, POSE, PORE.
Step 4POME -> POMP

Tile 4 changes E to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POME include HOME, SOME, COME, POLE.
Step 5POMP -> POOP

Tile 3 changes M to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POMP include PUMP, COMP, PIMP, ROMP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

BIKE has 9 legal one-letter neighbors, but only PIKE keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin LIKE (+1), MIKE (+1), BITE (+1), HIKE (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
PIKE	1: B -> P	5	Keeps par	1
LIKE	1: B -> L	6	Adds 1 move	2
MIKE	1: B -> M	6	Adds 1 move	1
BITE	3: K -> T	6	Adds 1 move	1
HIKE	1: B -> H	6	Adds 1 move	1
BILE	3: K -> L	6	Adds 1 move	5
DIKE	1: B -> D	6	Adds 1 move	2
BIDE	3: K -> D	6	Adds 1 move	2

BIKE opening fingerprint

BIKE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: PIKE, LIKE, MIKE, HIKE, DIKE; tile 2: BAKE; tile 3: BITE, BILE, BIDE. Two moves from the start, 68 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BIDS, BILL, BITS, BODE, DIME, LIME, PILE, PIPE, PUKE, BADE, BALE, BANE, BARE, BASE, BIDE, BILE, BILK, BITE, CAKE, CITE, DICE, DIKE, DINE, DIRE.

Your route

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Graph reading

POMP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After POME becomes POMP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as HOME, SOME, COME, POLE show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 1
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 3

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: 2026-08-22 03:33 UTC Puzzle date: February 20, 2027