Historical route lab

Poople #645 MINK Answer

Poople #645 started at MINK on May 21, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence I>O, N>O, M>L, K>P, L>P, with 1 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for MINK, including 17 legal openings and route signature 2-3-1-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

MINK route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes8Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves171 keep par

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

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 M-I-N-K. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

MINK -> MONK -> MOOK -> LOOK -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0MINKStart

Step 1MONKBridge

Step 2MOOKBridge

Step 3LOOKBridge

Step 4LOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MINK -> MONK

Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. MONK has 10 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MINK include LINK, MILK, TINK, MIND.
Step 2MONK -> MOOK

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. MOOK has 15 legal neighbors, 5 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MONK include HONK, BONK, CONK, MOCK.
Step 3MOOK -> LOOK

Tile 1 changes M to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LOOK has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MOOK include BOOK, COOK, HOOK, MOOR.
Step 4LOOK -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes K to P; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from LOOK include BOOK, COOK, HOOK, LOOM.
Step 5LOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes L to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOOP include COOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

MINK has 17 legal one-letter neighbors, but only MONK keeps the route at 5 moves. Nearby detours begin LINK (+1), MILK (+1), TINK (+1), MIND (+2).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
MONK	2: I -> O	5	Keeps par	8
LINK	1: M -> L	6	Adds 1 move	1
MILK	3: N -> L	6	Adds 1 move	1
TINK	1: M -> T	6	Adds 1 move	8
MIND	4: K -> D	7	Adds 2 moves	19
MINI	4: K -> I	7	Adds 2 moves	8
PINK	1: M -> P	7	Adds 2 moves	31
MINE	4: K -> E	7	Adds 2 moves	29

MINK opening fingerprint

MINK groups its legal first moves as tile 1: LINK, TINK, PINK, SINK, WINK, FINK, RINK, KINK, DINK, OINK; tile 2: MONK; tile 3: MILK; tile 4: MIND, MINI, MINE, MINT, MINX. Two moves from the start, 97 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BONK, CONK, HONK, LICK, MILL, MOCK, MONS, TONK, ZONK, BILK, BIND, DANK, DICK, DINE, DIRK, DUNK, FIND, FUNK, HINT, KICK, LANK, LINE, LINK, LINT.

Your route

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Graph reading

LOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After LOOK becomes LOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BOOK, COOK, HOOK, LOOM show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 1
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: 2026-08-26 03:04 UTC Puzzle date: May 21, 2027