Historical route lab

Poople #599 SNAG Answer

Poople #599 started at SNAG on April 5, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence G>P, N>L, A>O, S>P, L>O, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

Replay SNAG Scores & notes Browse archive

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

Calculated from the current word graph

SNAG route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes6Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves83 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

SNAG -> SNAP -> SLAP -> SLOP -> PLOP -> POOP

Step 0SNAGStart

Step 1SNAPBridge

Step 2SLAPBridge

Step 3SLOPBridge

Step 4PLOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1SNAG -> SNAP

Tile 4 changes G to P; the move is closer by letter shape. SNAP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SNAG include SLAG, SNOG, STAG, SNUG.
Step 2SNAP -> SLAP

Tile 2 changes N to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. SLAP has 14 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SNAP include SOAP, SWAP, SNIP, KNAP.
Step 3SLAP -> SLOP

Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. SLOP has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SLAP include PLAP, SLIP, FLAP, CLAP.
Step 4SLOP -> PLOP

Tile 1 changes S 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 SLOP include FLOP, CLOP, GLOP, SHOP.
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, PLOT, FLOP, PLOW.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

SNAG has 8 legal one-letter neighbors. SNAP, SLAG, SNOG keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin STAG (+1), SNUG (+1), SWAG (+1), SHAG (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
SNAP	4: G -> P	5	Keeps par	2
SLAG	2: N -> L	5	Keeps par	3
SNOG	3: A -> O	5	Keeps par	1
STAG	2: N -> T	6	Adds 1 move	3
SNUG	3: A -> U	6	Adds 1 move	2
SWAG	2: N -> W	6	Adds 1 move	5
SHAG	2: N -> H	6	Adds 1 move	3
SCAG	2: N -> C	6	Adds 1 move	3

SNAG opening fingerprint

SNAG groups its legal first moves as tile 2: SLAG, STAG, SWAG, SHAG, SCAG; tile 3: SNOG, SNUG; tile 4: SNAP. Two moves from the start, 45 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is SLOG, FLAG, SLAB, SLAG, SLAM, SLAT, SLAW, SLAY, SLUG, SMOG, SNIP, SNOB, SNOG, SNOT, SNOW, SOAP, SWAP, KNAP, SCAB, SCAG, SCAM, SCAR, SCAT, SHAG.

Your route

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Graph reading

SNAP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After SNAG becomes SNAP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SLAG, SNOG, STAG, SNUG 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: 2026-08-24 01:54 UTC Puzzle date: April 5, 2027