Historical route lab

Poople #632 DEAR Answer

Poople #632 started at DEAR on May 8, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>E, E>O, E>O, D>P, R>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for DEAR, including 16 legal openings and route signature 3-2-3-1-4.

Calculated from the current word graph

DEAR route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves162 keep par

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

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 D-E-A-R. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

DEAR -> DEER -> DOER -> DOOR -> POOR -> POOP

Step 0DEARStart

Step 1DEERBridge

Step 2DOERBridge

Step 3DOORBridge

Step 4POORBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1DEAR -> DEER

Tile 3 changes A to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. DEER has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DEAR include BEAR, YEAR, NEAR, DEAL.
Step 2DEER -> DOER

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. DOER has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DEER include DEEP, PEER, DYER, BEER.
Step 3DOER -> DOOR

Tile 3 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. DOOR has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DOER include DOUR, DOES, DYER, GOER.
Step 4DOOR -> POOR

Tile 1 changes D to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOR has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from DOOR include MOOR, BOOR, DOOM, DOUR.
Step 5POOR -> POOP

Tile 4 changes R to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POOR include POOL, POOF, POUR, MOOR.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

DEAR has 16 legal one-letter neighbors. BEAR, DEER keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin YEAR (+1), NEAR (+1), DEAL (+1), HEAR (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
BEAR	1: D -> B	5	Keeps par	2
DEER	3: A -> E	5	Keeps par	1
YEAR	1: D -> Y	6	Adds 1 move	2
NEAR	1: D -> N	6	Adds 1 move	2
DEAL	4: R -> L	6	Adds 1 move	1
HEAR	1: D -> H	6	Adds 1 move	5
GEAR	1: D -> G	6	Adds 1 move	2
WEAR	1: D -> W	6	Adds 1 move	2

DEAR opening fingerprint

DEAR groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BEAR, YEAR, NEAR, HEAR, GEAR, WEAR, FEAR, REAR, TEAR, PEAR, SEAR; tile 3: DEER; tile 4: DEAL, DEAN, DEAD, DEAF. Two moves from the start, 83 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOAR, BEAR, BEAT, DEEP, DELL, DYER, HOAR, LEAN, PEAT, PEER, ROAR, SOAR, BEAD, BEAK, BEAM, BEAN, BEAU, BEER, DEAL, DEAN, DEED, DEEM, DIAL, DUAL.

Your route

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Graph reading

DOOR is the narrowest displayed bridge

After DOER becomes DOOR, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as DOUR, DOES, DYER, GOER show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 1
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 13:25 UTC Puzzle date: May 8, 2027