Historical route lab

Poople #625 BRAN Answer

Poople #625 started at BRAN on May 1, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence N>T, R>O, A>O, T>P, B>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Replay BRAN Scores & notes Browse archive
Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for BRAN, including 6 legal openings and route signature 4-2-3-4-1.
Calculated from the current word graph

BRAN route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes4Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves62 keep par
Route shapeselective 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-N. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

BRAN -> BRAT -> BOAT -> BOOT -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0BRANStart
Step 1BRATBridge
Step 2BOATBridge
Step 3BOOTBridge
Step 4BOOPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1BRAN -> BRAT

    Tile 4 changes N 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 BRAN include BRAS, BEAN, GRAN, BRAY.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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?

BRAN has 6 legal one-letter neighbors. BRAS, BRAT keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin BEAN (+1), GRAN (+1), BRAY (+1), BRAG (+1).

Compare 6 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
BRAS4: N -> S5Keeps par3
BRAT4: N -> T5Keeps par1
BEAN2: R -> E6Adds 1 move4
GRAN1: B -> G6Adds 1 move2
BRAY4: N -> Y6Adds 1 move10
BRAG4: N -> G6Adds 1 move8

BRAN opening fingerprint

BRAN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: GRAN; tile 2: BEAN; tile 4: BRAS, BRAT, BRAY, BRAG. Two moves from the start, 40 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOAS, BROS, BAAS, BEAR, BEAT, BIAS, BLAT, BRAS, BRIG, BRIS, BRUT, CRAG, CRAY, ERAS, FRAG, GRAD, GRAM, LEAN, PRAT, PRAY, BEAD, BEAK, BEAM, BEAU.

Your route

Compare a path you played

Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading

BRAT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BRAN becomes BRAT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BRAS, BEAN, GRAN, BRAY 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: 2026-08-25 05:53 UTC Puzzle date: May 1, 2027