Historical route lab

Poople #618 MINE Answer

Poople #618 started at MINE on April 24, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence N>L, E>L, M>P, I>O, L>O, L>P, with 9 par-preserving first moves.

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for MINE, including 23 legal openings and route signature 3-4-1-2-3-4.
Calculated from the current word graph

MINE route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes29Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves239 keep par
Route shapeflexible openingLetter positions 3-4-1-2-3-4
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 M-I-N-E. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 9 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

MINE -> MILE -> MILL -> PILL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0MINEStart
Step 1MILEBridge
Step 2MILLBridge
Step 3PILLBridge
Step 4POLLBridge
Step 5POOLBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1MINE -> MILE

    Tile 3 changes N to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. MILE has 19 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MINE include LINE, MIKE, PINE, MIME.

  2. Step 2MILE -> MILL

    Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. MILL has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MILE include PILE, MOLE, FILE, MALE.

  3. Step 3MILL -> PILL

    Tile 1 changes M to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PILL has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MILL include WILL, BILL, HILL, FILL.

  4. Step 4PILL -> POLL

    Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PILL include PULL, PALL, WILL, BILL.

  5. Step 5POLL -> POOL

    Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POLL include ROLL, TOLL, PULL, DOLL.

  6. Step 6POOL -> 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, TOOL, COOL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

MINE has 23 legal one-letter neighbors. LINE, MIKE, MILE, PINE, MIME, DINE, MINK, TINE, MIRE keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin MIND (+1), FINE (+1), WINE (+1).

Compare 12 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
LINE1: M -> L6Keeps par1
MIKE3: N -> K6Keeps par1
MILE3: N -> L6Keeps par6
PINE1: M -> P6Keeps par5
MIME3: N -> M6Keeps par3
DINE1: M -> D6Keeps par2
MINK4: E -> K6Keeps par8
TINE1: M -> T6Keeps par2
MIRE3: N -> R6Keeps par1
MIND4: E -> D7Adds 1 move19
FINE1: M -> F7Adds 1 move18
WINE1: M -> W7Adds 1 move17

MINE opening fingerprint

MINE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: LINE, PINE, DINE, TINE, FINE, WINE, NINE, VINE, ZINE, SINE, KINE; tile 2: MANE; tile 3: MIKE, MILE, MIME, MIRE, MICE, MITE; tile 4: MINK, MIND, MINI, MINT, MINX. Two moves from the start, 157 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is DIME, DONE, LIME, MOLE, MONK, MORE, PIKE, PILE, PIPE, TIME, TONE, BANE, BIKE, BILE, BIND, BITE, CANE, CITE, DICE, DIKE, DINE, DIRE, DIVE, DUNE.

Your route

Compare a path you played

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After POLL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as ROLL, TOLL, PULL, DOLL show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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: 2026-08-24 22:19 UTC Puzzle date: April 24, 2027