Poople #561 started at VEIL on February 26, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence I>A, V>D, A>L, E>O, D>P, L>O, L>P, with 2 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 V-E-I-L. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Tile 3 changes I to A; the move is sideways by letter shape. VEAL has 11 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from VEIL include VEIN.
Step 2VEAL -> DEAL
Tile 1 changes V to D; the move is sideways by letter shape. DEAL has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from VEAL include TEAL, PEAL, REAL, SEAL.
Step 3DEAL -> DELL
Tile 3 changes A to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. DELL has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DEAL include DUAL, DEAN, DEAR, DIAL.
Step 4DELL -> DOLL
Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. DOLL has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DELL include TELL, BELL, DULL, DILL.
Step 5DOLL -> POLL
Tile 1 changes D to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DOLL include ROLL, TOLL, BOLL, LOLL.
Step 6POLL -> 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.
Step 7POOL -> 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?
VEIL has 2 legal one-letter neighbors. VEIN, VEAL keep the route at 7 moves, while sampled detours begin outside the displayed set.
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
VEIN
4: L -> N
7
Keeps par
1
VEAL
3: I -> A
7
Keeps par
6
VEIL opening fingerprint
VEIL groups its legal first moves as tile 3: VEAL; tile 4: VEIN. Two moves from the start, 11 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is PEAL, TEAL, VAIN, HEAL, MEAL, REAL, REIN, SEAL, VIAL, WEAL, ZEAL.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
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
4
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-22 10:01 UTCPuzzle date: February 26, 2027