Poople #574 started at EASY on March 11, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence Y>T, E>L, A>O, S>O, T>P, L>P, with 1 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 E-A-S-Y. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 6-move answer
EASY -> EAST -> LAST -> LOST -> LOOT -> LOOP -> POOP
Step 0EASYStart
Step 1EASTBridge
Step 2LASTBridge
Step 3LOSTBridge
Step 4LOOTBridge
Step 5LOOPBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1EASY -> EAST
Tile 4 changes Y to T; the move is sideways by letter shape. EAST has 10 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from EASY include EASE.
Step 2EAST -> LAST
Tile 1 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LAST has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from EAST include CAST, PAST, FAST, VAST.
Step 3LAST -> LOST
Tile 2 changes A 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 LAST include LIST, CAST, LUST, LEST.
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?
EASY has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only EAST keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin EASE (+1).
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
EAST
4: Y -> T
6
Keeps par
2
EASE
4: Y -> E
7
Adds 1 move
11
EASY opening fingerprint
EASY groups its legal first moves as tile 4: EAST, EASE. Two moves from the start, 14 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CAST, BASE, BAST, CASE, FAST, MAST, PAST, RASE, VAST, EASE, EAVE, ERST, VASE, ELSE.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
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
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-23 00:01 UTCPuzzle date: March 11, 2027