Historical route lab

Poople #647 YUCK Answer

Poople #647 started at YUCK on May 23, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence Y>L, U>O, C>O, K>P, L>P, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

Replay YUCK Scores & notes Browse archive

Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for YUCK, including 8 legal openings and route signature 1-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

YUCK route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves83 keep par

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

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 Y-U-C-K. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-consonant change. 3 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

YUCK -> LUCK -> LOCK -> LOOK -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0YUCKStart

Step 1LUCKBridge

Step 2LOCKBridge

Step 3LOOKBridge

Step 4LOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1YUCK -> LUCK

Tile 1 changes Y to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LUCK has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from YUCK include BUCK, HUCK, SUCK, DUCK.
Step 2LUCK -> LOCK

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOCK has 18 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LUCK include LACK, BUCK, LICK, HUCK.
Step 3LOCK -> LOOK

Tile 3 changes C to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOK has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOCK include COCK, BOCK, HOCK, ROCK.
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?

YUCK has 8 legal one-letter neighbors. LUCK, BUCK, HUCK keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin SUCK (+1), DUCK (+1), TUCK (+1), PUCK (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
LUCK	1: Y -> L	5	Keeps par	1
BUCK	1: Y -> B	5	Keeps par	1
HUCK	1: Y -> H	5	Keeps par	1
SUCK	1: Y -> S	6	Adds 1 move	7
DUCK	1: Y -> D	6	Adds 1 move	7
TUCK	1: Y -> T	6	Adds 1 move	12
PUCK	1: Y -> P	6	Adds 1 move	7
MUCK	1: Y -> M	6	Adds 1 move	12

YUCK opening fingerprint

YUCK groups its legal first moves as tile 1: LUCK, BUCK, HUCK, SUCK, DUCK, TUCK, PUCK, MUCK. Two moves from the start, 48 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOCK, HOCK, BACK, BECK, BUCK, BUNK, DOCK, HACK, HECK, HICK, HUCK, HUNK, LACK, LICK, MOCK, POCK, SOCK, TOCK, BULK, BUSK, DECK, DICK, DUCK, DUNK.

Your route

Compare a path you played

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

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 04:33 UTC Puzzle date: May 23, 2027