Poople #585 started at SOFA on March 22, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>T, S>L, F>O, T>P, 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 S-O-F-A. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 5-move answer
SOFA -> SOFT -> LOFT -> LOOT -> LOOP -> POOP
Step 0SOFAStart
Step 1SOFTBridge
Step 2LOFTBridge
Step 3LOOTBridge
Step 4LOOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1SOFA -> SOFT
Tile 4 changes A to T; the move is sideways by letter shape. SOFT has 5 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SOFA include SOMA, SODA, SOBA.
Step 2SOFT -> LOFT
Tile 1 changes S to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LOFT has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SOFT include SOOT, SORT, SIFT.
Step 3LOFT -> LOOT
Tile 3 changes F 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 LOFT include LOST, LOUT, LEFT, LIFT.
Step 4LOOT -> 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 5LOOP -> 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?
SOFA has 4 legal one-letter neighbors. SOFT, SOMA keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin SODA (+1), SOBA (+1).
Compare 4 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
SOFT
4: A -> T
5
Keeps par
5
SOMA
3: F -> M
5
Keeps par
3
SODA
3: F -> D
6
Adds 1 move
8
SOBA
3: F -> B
6
Adds 1 move
6
SOFA opening fingerprint
SOFA groups its legal first moves as tile 3: SOMA, SODA, SOBA; tile 4: SOFT. Two moves from the start, 12 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is COMA, SOME, SOOT, BOBA, CODA, SOBS, SODS, SOMA, SORT, SIFT, SOBA, SODA.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
LOFT is the narrowest displayed bridge
After SOFT becomes LOFT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SOOT, SORT, SIFT show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
3
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-23 11:27 UTCPuzzle date: March 22, 2027