Historical route lab

Poople #568 TERM Answer

Poople #568 started at TERM on March 5, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence M>N, E>O, R>O, N>L, T>P, L>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 TERM, including 6 legal openings and route signature 4-2-3-4-1-4.
Calculated from the current word graph

TERM route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes8Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves63 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 4-2-3-4-1-4
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 T-E-R-M. 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

TERM -> TERN -> TORN -> TOON -> TOOL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0TERMStart
Step 1TERNBridge
Step 2TORNBridge
Step 3TOONBridge
Step 4TOOLBridge
Step 5POOLBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1TERM -> TERN

    Tile 4 changes M to N; the move is sideways by letter shape. TERN has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TERM include TEAM, PERM, GERM, BERM.

  2. Step 2TERN -> TORN

    Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. TORN has 14 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TERN include TEEN, TURN, KERN, FERN.

  3. Step 3TORN -> TOON

    Tile 3 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. TOON has 11 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TORN include BORN, PORN, TOWN, CORN.

  4. Step 4TOON -> TOOL

    Tile 4 changes N to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. TOOL has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TOON include BOON, LOON, GOON, SOON.

  5. Step 5TOOL -> POOL

    Tile 1 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from TOOL include COOL, WOOL, FOOL, TOOK.

  6. Step 6POOL -> 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, COOL, POLL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

TERM has 6 legal one-letter neighbors. TEAM, PERM, TERN keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin GERM (+1), BERM (+1), TEEM (+1).

Compare 6 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
TEAM3: R -> A6Keeps par2
PERM1: T -> P6Keeps par1
TERN4: M -> N6Keeps par5
GERM1: T -> G7Adds 1 move1
BERM1: T -> B7Adds 1 move5
TEEM3: R -> E7Adds 1 move11

TERM opening fingerprint

TERM groups its legal first moves as tile 1: PERM, GERM, BERM; tile 3: TEAM, TEEM; tile 4: TERN. Two moves from the start, 28 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is LEAM, PERP, TRAM, BEAM, DEEM, PERK, PERM, PERT, REAM, SEAM, SEEM, TEAL, TEAM, TEAR, TEAT, TEED, TEEN, TEES, TURN, BERG, BERM, FERN, GERM, KERN.

Your route

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Graph reading

TERN is the narrowest displayed bridge

After TERM becomes TERN, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as TEAM, PERM, GERM, BERM 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 17:35 UTC Puzzle date: March 5, 2027