Historical route lab

Poople #590 IRIS Answer

Poople #590 started at IRIS on March 27, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence I>B, I>O, B>P, S>P, R>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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

IRIS route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves31 keep par
Route shapenarrow openingLetter positions 1-3-1-4-2
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 I-R-I-S. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

IRIS -> BRIS -> BROS -> PROS -> PROP -> POOP

Step 0IRISStart
Step 1BRISBridge
Step 2BROSBridge
Step 3PROSBridge
Step 4PROPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1IRIS -> BRIS

    Tile 1 changes I to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BRIS has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from IRIS include IBIS, IRKS.

  2. Step 2BRIS -> BROS

    Tile 3 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BROS has 6 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BRIS include BRAS, BRIG, BRIM, BRIE.

  3. Step 3BROS -> PROS

    Tile 1 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PROS has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BROS include BOOS, EROS, BROW, BRAS.

  4. Step 4PROS -> PROP

    Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PROS include PROF, PROM, PROD, PROG.

  5. Step 5PROP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

IRIS has 3 legal one-letter neighbors, but only BRIS keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin IBIS (+2), IRKS (+2).

Compare 3 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
BRIS1: I -> B5Keeps par2
IBIS2: R -> B7Adds 2 moves2
IRKS3: I -> K7Adds 2 moves2

IRIS opening fingerprint

IRIS groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BRIS; tile 2: IBIS; tile 3: IRKS. Two moves from the start, 6 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BRAS, BRIG, BRIM, BRIE, INKS, ARKS.

Your route

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Graph reading

BRIS is the narrowest displayed bridge

After IRIS becomes BRIS, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as IBIS, IRKS 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 16:34 UTC Puzzle date: March 27, 2027