Historical route lab

Poople #597 BRAG Answer

Poople #597 started at BRAG on April 3, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence G>T, R>O, A>O, T>P, B>P, with 5 par-preserving first moves.

Replay BRAG Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for BRAG, including 8 legal openings and route signature 4-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

BRAG route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes8Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves85 keep par

Route shapeflexible openingLetter positions 4-2-3-4-1

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 B-R-A-G. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 5 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

BRAG -> BRAT -> BOAT -> BOOT -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0BRAGStart

Step 1BRATBridge

Step 2BOATBridge

Step 3BOOTBridge

Step 4BOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1BRAG -> BRAT

Tile 4 changes G to T; the move is sideways by letter shape. BRAT has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BRAG include BRAS, BRIG, FRAG, CRAG.
Step 2BRAT -> BOAT

Tile 2 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOAT has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BRAT include BEAT, BRAS, BRUT, PRAT.
Step 3BOAT -> BOOT

Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOT has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOAT include COAT, BOLT, BOUT, BOAR.
Step 4BOOT -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOP has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from BOOT include BOOK, BOOB, BOOM, BOON.
Step 5BOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOOP include LOOP, COOP, HOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

BRAG has 8 legal one-letter neighbors. BRAS, BRAT, BRIG, FRAG, CRAG keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin DRAG (+1), BRAY (+1), BRAN (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BRAS	4: G -> S	5	Keeps par	3
BRAT	4: G -> T	5	Keeps par	1
BRIG	3: A -> I	5	Keeps par	1
FRAG	1: B -> F	5	Keeps par	1
CRAG	1: B -> C	5	Keeps par	2
DRAG	1: B -> D	6	Adds 1 move	4
BRAY	4: G -> Y	6	Adds 1 move	10
BRAN	4: G -> N	6	Adds 1 move	4

BRAG opening fingerprint

BRAG groups its legal first moves as tile 1: FRAG, CRAG, DRAG; tile 3: BRIG; tile 4: BRAS, BRAT, BRAY, BRAN. Two moves from the start, 40 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOAS, BROS, CRAP, FROG, PRIG, BAAS, BEAT, BIAS, BLAT, BRAS, BRIM, BRIS, BRUT, CRAB, CRAG, CRAM, CRAW, CRAY, DRAM, ERAS, FLAG, FRAG, PRAT, PRAY.

Your route

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Graph reading

BRAT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BRAG becomes BRAT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BRAS, BRIG, FRAG, CRAG 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 23:32 UTC Puzzle date: April 3, 2027