Historical route lab

Poople #586 FIAT Answer

Poople #586 started at FIAT on March 23, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence I>L, F>P, A>O, T>P, L>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for FIAT, including 4 legal openings and route signature 2-1-3-4-2.
Calculated from the current word graph

FIAT route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes4Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves41 keep par
Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 2-1-3-4-2
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 F-I-A-T. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

FIAT -> FLAT -> PLAT -> PLOT -> PLOP -> POOP

Step 0FIATStart
Step 1FLATBridge
Step 2PLATBridge
Step 3PLOTBridge
Step 4PLOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1FIAT -> FLAT

    Tile 2 changes I to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. FLAT has 15 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FIAT include FIST, FEAT, FRAT.

  2. Step 2FLAT -> PLAT

    Tile 1 changes F to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PLAT has 10 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FLAT include FLAP, FLAG, FLAW, FLAX.

  3. Step 3PLAT -> PLOT

    Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. PLOT has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PLAT include PLAP, PLAN, PLAY, PHAT.

  4. Step 4PLOT -> PLOP

    Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PLOP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PLOT include PLOW, PLOY, PLOD, SLOT.

  5. Step 5PLOP -> POOP

    Tile 2 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PLOP include PROP, FLOP, PLOW, PLOY.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

FIAT has 4 legal one-letter neighbors, but only FLAT keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin FIST (+1), FEAT (+1), FRAT (+1).

Compare 4 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
FLAT2: I -> L5Keeps par4
FIST3: A -> S6Adds 1 move1
FEAT2: I -> E6Adds 1 move7
FRAT2: I -> R6Adds 1 move9

FIAT opening fingerprint

FIAT groups its legal first moves as tile 2: FLAT, FEAT, FRAT; tile 3: FIST. Two moves from the start, 36 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is FLAP, BEAT, BLAT, BRAT, FLAB, FLAG, FLAK, FLAN, FLAW, FLAX, FLAY, FLIT, FRAG, LIST, PEAT, PRAT, SLAT, DRAT, FAST, FEAR, FEAT, FELT, FEST, FRAT.

Your route

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Graph reading

PLOT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After PLAT becomes PLOT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as PLAP, PLAN, PLAY, PHAT show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
1
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: live Graph synced: 2026-08-23 12:21 UTC Puzzle date: March 23, 2027