Historical route lab

Poople #641 BIRD Answer

Poople #641 started at BIRD on May 17, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence R>N, I>O, D>K, N>O, K>P, B>P, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

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

BIRD route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target
Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves33 keep par
Route shapeselective openingLetter positions 3-2-4-3-4-1
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-I-R-D. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

BIRD -> BIND -> BOND -> BONK -> BOOK -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0BIRDStart
Step 1BINDBridge
Step 2BONDBridge
Step 3BONKBridge
Step 4BOOKBridge
Step 5BOOPBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy

What changes at every step

  1. Step 1BIRD -> BIND

    Tile 3 changes R to N; the move is sideways by letter shape. BIND has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BIRD include BARD, GIRD.

  2. Step 2BIND -> BOND

    Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOND has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BIND include FIND, BAND, BEND, BINS.

  3. Step 3BOND -> BONK

    Tile 4 changes D to K; the move is sideways by letter shape. BONK has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BOND include BOLD, BONE, FOND, BONG.

  4. Step 4BONK -> BOOK

    Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOK has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BONK include BOCK, HONK, CONK, BANK.

  5. Step 5BOOK -> BOOP

    Tile 4 changes K 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 BOOK include LOOK, COOK, BOOT, HOOK.

  6. 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?

BIRD has 3 legal one-letter neighbors. BIND, BARD, GIRD keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin outside the displayed set.

Compare 3 calculated first moves
MoveChanged tileTotalVerdictShortest continuations
BIND3: R -> N6Keeps par1
BARD2: I -> A6Keeps par1
GIRD1: B -> G6Keeps par1

BIRD opening fingerprint

BIRD groups its legal first moves as tile 1: GIRD; tile 2: BARD; tile 3: BIND. Two moves from the start, 23 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BARN, GILD, BALD, BAND, BARB, BARE, BARF, BARK, BARS, BEND, BINS, CARD, FIND, GIRL, WARD, BAUD, HARD, KIND, LARD, MIND, RIND, WIND, YARD.

Your route

Compare a path you played

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

BIND is the narrowest displayed bridge

After BIRD becomes BIND, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BARD, GIRD show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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 23:07 UTC Puzzle date: May 17, 2027