Historical route lab

Poople #556 MEAN Answer

Poople #556 started at MEAN on February 21, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence M>L, E>O, A>O, N>P, L>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Replay MEAN Scores & notes Browse archive

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

Calculated from the current word graph

MEAN route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes6Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves92 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-N. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

MEAN -> LEAN -> LOAN -> LOON -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0MEANStart

Step 1LEANBridge

Step 2LOANBridge

Step 3LOONBridge

Step 4LOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MEAN -> LEAN

Tile 1 changes M to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LEAN has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MEAN include MOAN, DEAN, JEAN, MEAT.
Step 2LEAN -> LOAN

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOAN has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LEAN include LEAM, LEAD, DEAN, JEAN.
Step 3LOAN -> LOON

Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOON has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOAN include LOAM, LOIN, LOAD, LOAF.
Step 4LOON -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes N to P; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from LOON include LOOK, LOOM, BOON, LOOT.
Step 5LOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 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 LOOP include COOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

MEAN has 9 legal one-letter neighbors. LEAN, MOAN keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin DEAN (+1), JEAN (+1), MEAT (+1), BEAN (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
LEAN	1: M -> L	5	Keeps par	1
MOAN	2: E -> O	5	Keeps par	5
DEAN	1: M -> D	6	Adds 1 move	1
JEAN	1: M -> J	6	Adds 1 move	1
MEAT	4: N -> T	6	Adds 1 move	10
BEAN	1: M -> B	6	Adds 1 move	4
WEAN	1: M -> W	6	Adds 1 move	1
MEAL	4: N -> L	7	Adds 2 moves	22

MEAN opening fingerprint

MEAN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: LEAN, DEAN, JEAN, BEAN, WEAN; tile 2: MOAN; tile 4: MEAT, MEAL, MEAD. Two moves from the start, 53 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is MOON, BEAR, BEAT, KOAN, LEAM, MOAT, MORN, MOWN, PEAT, ROAN, BEAD, BEAK, BEAM, BEAN, BEAU, BEEN, BRAN, DEAL, DEAN, DEAR, FEAT, HEAD, HEAT, JEAN.

Your route

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Graph reading

LOAN is the narrowest displayed bridge

After LEAN becomes LOAN, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as LEAM, LEAD, DEAN, JEAN 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: 2026-08-22 04:29 UTC Puzzle date: February 21, 2027