Poople #637 started at GRUB on May 13, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence U>A, G>C, B>P, A>O, C>P, R>O, with 1 par-preserving first moves.
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 G-R-U-B. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Tile 3 changes U to A; the move is sideways by letter shape. GRAB has 7 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. GRUB has no additional off-route exit in the sampled branch set.
Step 2GRAB -> CRAB
Tile 1 changes G to C; the move is sideways by letter shape. CRAB has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from GRAB include GRAD, GRAM, GRAY, GRAN.
Step 3CRAB -> CRAP
Tile 4 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. CRAP has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CRAB include CRAM, CRAY, CRAG, CRAW.
Step 4CRAP -> CROP
Tile 3 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. CROP has 8 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CRAP include CHAP, CLAP, WRAP, TRAP.
Step 5CROP -> PROP
Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from CROP include COOP, DROP, CHOP, CLOP.
Step 6PROP -> POOP
Tile 2 changes R to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PROP include PLOP, DROP, PREP, PROS.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
GRUB has 1 legal one-letter neighbors, but only GRAB keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin outside the sampled opening set.
Compare 1 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
GRAB
3: U -> A
6
Keeps par
4
GRUB opening fingerprint
GRUB groups its legal first moves as tile 3: GRAB. Two moves from the start, 5 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is GRAD, GRAM, DRAB, GRAN, GRAY.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
CRAB is the narrowest displayed bridge
After GRAB becomes CRAB, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as GRAD, GRAM, GRAY, GRAN 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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-25 18:28 UTCPuzzle date: May 13, 2027