Historical route lab

Poople #563 MINT Answer

Poople #563 started at MINT on February 28, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence N>S, M>L, I>O, S>O, T>P, L>P, with 4 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for MINT, including 12 legal openings and route signature 3-1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

MINT route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes20Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves124 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

MINT -> MIST -> LIST -> LOST -> LOOT -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0MINTStart

Step 1MISTBridge

Step 2LISTBridge

Step 3LOSTBridge

Step 4LOOTBridge

Step 5LOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MINT -> MIST

Tile 3 changes N to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. MIST has 11 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MINT include HINT, LINT, MINK, MIND.
Step 2MIST -> LIST

Tile 1 changes M to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LIST has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MIST include MOST, MUST, MISS, FIST.
Step 3LIST -> LOST

Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOST has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LIST include LAST, LIFT, LISP, LUST.
Step 4LOST -> LOOT

Tile 3 changes S to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOT has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOST include COST, HOST, LOFT, LOUT.
Step 5LOOT -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes T 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 LOOT include LOOK, BOOT, LOOM, LOON.
Step 6LOOP -> 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?

MINT has 12 legal one-letter neighbors. HINT, MIST, LINT, MINK keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin MIND (+1), MINI (+1), MINE (+1), PINT (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
HINT	1: M -> H	6	Keeps par	1
MIST	3: N -> S	6	Keeps par	9
LINT	1: M -> L	6	Keeps par	2
MINK	4: T -> K	6	Keeps par	8
MIND	4: T -> D	7	Adds 1 move	19
MINI	4: T -> I	7	Adds 1 move	8
MINE	4: T -> E	7	Adds 1 move	29
PINT	1: M -> P	7	Adds 1 move	11

MINT opening fingerprint

MINT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: HINT, LINT, PINT, TINT, DINT; tile 3: MIST, MITT; tile 4: MINK, MIND, MINI, MINE, MINX. Two moves from the start, 80 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is HILT, LIFT, MONK, MOST, BIND, DINE, FIND, FIST, GIST, HINT, HUNT, LENT, LILT, LINE, LINK, LINT, MAST, MIKE, MILD, MILE, MILK, MIME, MINK, MIRE.

Your route

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Graph reading

LOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After LOOT becomes LOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as LOOK, BOOT, LOOM, LOON 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: 2026-08-22 12:11 UTC Puzzle date: February 28, 2027