Historical route lab

Poople #629 VENT Answer

Poople #629 started at VENT on May 5, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence V>B, N>A, E>O, A>O, T>P, B>P, with 4 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for VENT, including 12 legal openings and route signature 1-3-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

VENT route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes8Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves124 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

VENT -> BENT -> BEAT -> BOAT -> BOOT -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0VENTStart

Step 1BENTBridge

Step 2BEATBridge

Step 3BOATBridge

Step 4BOOTBridge

Step 5BOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1VENT -> BENT

Tile 1 changes V to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BENT has 15 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from VENT include VEST, LENT, PENT, SENT.
Step 2BENT -> BEAT

Tile 3 changes N to A; the move is sideways by letter shape. BEAT has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BENT include BELT, BEST, BEND, LENT.
Step 3BEAT -> BOAT

Tile 2 changes E 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 BEAT include BEAR, BELT, PEAT, BRAT.
Step 4BOAT -> 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.
Step 5BOOT -> 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.
Step 6BOOP -> 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?

VENT has 12 legal one-letter neighbors. BENT, VEST, LENT, PENT keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin SENT (+1), WENT (+1), RENT (+1), CENT (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BENT	1: V -> B	6	Keeps par	2
VEST	3: N -> S	6	Keeps par	2
LENT	1: V -> L	6	Keeps par	2
PENT	1: V -> P	6	Keeps par	2
SENT	1: V -> S	7	Adds 1 move	15
WENT	1: V -> W	7	Adds 1 move	15
RENT	1: V -> R	7	Adds 1 move	8
CENT	1: V -> C	7	Adds 1 move	8

VENT opening fingerprint

VENT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BENT, LENT, PENT, SENT, WENT, RENT, CENT, TENT, DENT; tile 3: VEST, VERT; tile 4: VEND. Two moves from the start, 70 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BELT, HEST, LEFT, LEST, PEAT, BEET, BEND, BEST, BUNT, CANT, DEFT, DELT, DENS, FEND, FEST, JEST, LENT, LEPT, LINT, NEST, PELT, PEND, PENS, PENT.

Your route

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Graph reading

BOAT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BEAT becomes BOAT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BEAR, BELT, PEAT, BRAT 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: 2026-08-25 10:10 UTC Puzzle date: May 5, 2027