Historical route lab

Poople #639 XRAY Answer

Poople #639 started at XRAY on May 15, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence X>P, A>E, Y>P, E>O, R>O, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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

XRAY route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target
Shortest routes6Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves62 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 1-3-4-3-2
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 X-R-A-Y. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

XRAY -> PRAY -> PREY -> PREP -> PROP -> POOP

Step 0XRAYStart
Step 1PRAYBridge
Step 2PREYBridge
Step 3PREPBridge
Step 4PROPBridge
Step 5POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1XRAY -> PRAY

    Tile 1 changes X to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PRAY has 10 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from XRAY include CRAY, GRAY, TRAY, BRAY.

  2. Step 2PRAY -> PREY

    Tile 3 changes A to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. PREY has 4 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PRAY include PLAY, PRAM, CRAY, PRAT.

  3. Step 3PREY -> PREP

    Tile 4 changes Y to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PREP has 4 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PREY include PREZ, GREY.

  4. Step 4PREP -> PROP

    Tile 3 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. PROP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PREP include PEEP, PREZ.

  5. Step 5PROP -> 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, CROP, PROS.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

XRAY has 6 legal one-letter neighbors. PRAY, CRAY keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin GRAY (+1), TRAY (+1), BRAY (+1), FRAY (+1).

Compare 6 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
PRAY1: X -> P5Keeps par4
CRAY1: X -> C5Keeps par2
GRAY1: X -> G6Adds 1 move9
TRAY1: X -> T6Adds 1 move10
BRAY1: X -> B6Adds 1 move10
FRAY1: X -> F6Adds 1 move11

XRAY opening fingerprint

XRAY groups its legal first moves as tile 1: PRAY, CRAY, GRAY, TRAY, BRAY, FRAY. Two moves from the start, 29 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CRAP, PLAY, PRAM, BRAS, BRAT, CLAY, CRAB, CRAG, CRAM, CRAW, CRAY, FLAY, FRAG, GRAD, GRAM, GREY, PRAT, TRAD, TRAM, TRAP, BRAG, BRAN, BRAY, FRAT.

Your route

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Graph reading

PREY is the narrowest displayed bridge

After PRAY becomes PREY, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as PLAY, PRAM, CRAY, PRAT 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 20:31 UTC Puzzle date: May 15, 2027