Historical route lab

Poople #605 TERN Answer

Poople #605 started at TERN on April 11, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence E>O, R>O, N>L, T>P, L>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for TERN, including 6 legal openings and route signature 2-3-4-1-4.

Calculated from the current word graph

TERN route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes5Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves61 keep par

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

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 T-E-R-N. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

TERN -> TORN -> TOON -> TOOL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0TERNStart

Step 1TORNBridge

Step 2TOONBridge

Step 3TOOLBridge

Step 4POOLBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1TERN -> TORN

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. TORN has 14 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TERN include TEEN, TURN, TERM, KERN.
Step 2TORN -> TOON

Tile 3 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. TOON has 11 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TORN include BORN, PORN, TOWN, CORN.
Step 3TOON -> TOOL

Tile 4 changes N to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. TOOL has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from TOON include BOON, LOON, GOON, SOON.
Step 4TOOL -> POOL

Tile 1 changes T to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from TOOL include COOL, WOOL, FOOL, TOOK.
Step 5POOL -> POOP

Tile 4 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 POOL include POOR, POOF, COOL, POLL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

TERN has 6 legal one-letter neighbors, but only TORN keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin TEEN (+1), TURN (+1), TERM (+2), KERN (+2).

Compare 6 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
TORN	2: E -> O	5	Keeps par	5
TEEN	3: R -> E	6	Adds 1 move	1
TURN	2: E -> U	6	Adds 1 move	6
TERM	4: N -> M	7	Adds 2 moves	8
KERN	1: T -> K	7	Adds 2 moves	7
FERN	1: T -> F	7	Adds 2 moves	5

TERN opening fingerprint

TERN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: KERN, FERN; tile 2: TORN, TURN; tile 3: TEEN; tile 4: TERM. Two moves from the start, 30 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BORN, BURN, CORN, HORN, MORN, PEEN, PORN, TORE, TORR, TORT, TOWN, WORN, BEEN, KEEN, PERM, SEEN, TEAM, TEED, TEES, TORI, TURN, BERM, FERN, GERM.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After TOOL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as COOL, WOOL, FOOL, TOOK 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 08:51 UTC Puzzle date: April 11, 2027