Historical route lab

Poople #621 PAVE Answer

Poople #621 started at PAVE on April 27, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence V>L, A>O, E>L, L>O, L>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for PAVE, including 16 legal openings and route signature 3-2-4-3-4.
Calculated from the current word graph

PAVE route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes4Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves162 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 3-2-4-3-4
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 P-A-V-E. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

PAVE -> PALE -> POLE -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0PAVEStart
Step 1PALEBridge
Step 2POLEBridge
Step 3POLLBridge
Step 4POOLBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1PAVE -> PALE

    Tile 3 changes V to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PALE has 22 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAVE include PARE, PAGE, SAVE, PACE.

  2. Step 2PALE -> POLE

    Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLE has 18 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PALE include PALL, PALM, PILE, PALS.

  3. Step 3POLE -> POLL

    Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POLE include POME, POPE, POLO, POLY.

  4. Step 4POLL -> 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, PILL.

  5. 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, TOOL, COOL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

PAVE has 16 legal one-letter neighbors. PALE, PARE keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin PAGE (+1), SAVE (+1), PACE (+1), CAVE (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
PALE3: V -> L5Keeps par3
PARE3: V -> R5Keeps par1
PAGE3: V -> G6Adds 1 move4
SAVE1: P -> S6Adds 1 move1
PACE3: V -> C6Adds 1 move4
CAVE1: P -> C6Adds 1 move8
PANE3: V -> N6Adds 1 move4
PATE3: V -> T6Adds 1 move4

PAVE opening fingerprint

PAVE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: SAVE, CAVE, HAVE, GAVE, WAVE, FAVE, RAVE, NAVE, LAVE, EAVE; tile 3: PALE, PARE, PAGE, PACE, PANE, PATE. Two moves from the start, 119 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is PALL, PORE, CAME, COVE, PALI, PALM, PALS, PARE, PILE, PURE, PYRE, SAME, BALE, BANE, BARE, CAFE, CAGE, CAKE, CANE, CAPE, CARE, CASE, CAVE, DALE.

Your route

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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, PILL show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
3
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: 2026-08-25 01:32 UTC Puzzle date: April 27, 2027