Historical route lab

Poople #582 MEDS Answer

Poople #582 started at MEDS on March 19, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence E>O, D>O, S>R, M>P, R>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Replay MEDS Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for MEDS, including 7 legal openings and route signature 2-3-4-1-4.

Calculated from the current word graph

MEDS route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes6Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves72 keep par

Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 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 M-E-D-S. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

MEDS -> MODS -> MOOS -> MOOR -> POOR -> POOP

Step 0MEDSStart

Step 1MODSBridge

Step 2MOOSBridge

Step 3MOORBridge

Step 4POORBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MEDS -> MODS

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. MODS has 17 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MEDS include BEDS, MESS, REDS, MEWS.
Step 2MODS -> MOOS

Tile 3 changes D to O; the move is closer by letter shape. MOOS has 16 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MODS include BODS, CODS, MOMS, GODS.
Step 3MOOS -> MOOR

Tile 4 changes S to R; the move is sideways by letter shape. MOOR has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MOOS include COOS, BOOS, MOON, MOOD.
Step 4MOOR -> POOR

Tile 1 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOR has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from MOOR include DOOR, BOOR, MOON, MOOD.
Step 5POOR -> POOP

Tile 4 changes R to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POOR include POOL, POOF, DOOR, POUR.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

MEDS has 7 legal one-letter neighbors. BEDS, MODS keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin MESS (+1), REDS (+1), MEWS (+1), WEDS (+1).

Compare 7 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BEDS	1: M -> B	5	Keeps par	1
MODS	2: E -> O	5	Keeps par	5
MESS	3: D -> S	6	Adds 1 move	4
REDS	1: M -> R	6	Adds 1 move	3
MEWS	3: D -> W	6	Adds 1 move	5
WEDS	1: M -> W	6	Adds 1 move	1
MUDS	2: E -> U	6	Adds 1 move	6

MEDS opening fingerprint

MEDS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BEDS, REDS, WEDS; tile 2: MODS, MUDS; tile 3: MESS, MEWS. Two moves from the start, 56 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BODS, CODS, BEDS, BEGS, BETS, BIDS, BUDS, GODS, MOBS, MOMS, MONS, MOPS, MOSS, MOWS, NODS, PODS, RODS, SODS, BEES, DUDS, JESS, LESS, MASS, MAWS.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOR is the narrowest displayed bridge

After MOOR becomes POOR, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as DOOR, BOOR, MOON, MOOD 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: 2026-08-23 08:16 UTC Puzzle date: March 19, 2027