Historical route lab

Poople #649 PAWN Answer

Poople #649 started at PAWN on May 25, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence W>I, N>L, I>L, A>O, L>O, L>P, with 5 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for PAWN, including 7 legal openings and route signature 3-4-3-2-3-4.

Calculated from the current word graph

PAWN route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes10Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves75 keep par

Route shapeflexible openingLetter positions 3-4-3-2-3-4

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 P-A-W-N. Change position 3 and keep positions 1, 2, 4 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. 5 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

PAWN -> PAIN -> PAIL -> PALL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP

Step 0PAWNStart

Step 1PAINBridge

Step 2PAILBridge

Step 3PALLBridge

Step 4POLLBridge

Step 5POOLBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1PAWN -> PAIN

Tile 3 changes W to I; the move is sideways by letter shape. PAIN has 10 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAWN include DAWN, LAWN, PAWS, SAWN.
Step 2PAIN -> PAIL

Tile 4 changes N to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PAIL has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAIN include LAIN, MAIN, PAID, GAIN.
Step 3PAIL -> PALL

Tile 3 changes I to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PALL has 16 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PAIL include FAIL, TAIL, MAIL, PAID.
Step 4PALL -> POLL

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PALL include PULL, PILL, CALL, FALL.
Step 5POLL -> POOL

Tile 3 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOL has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from POLL include ROLL, TOLL, PULL, PILL.
Step 6POOL -> POOP

Tile 4 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 POOL include POOR, POOF, TOOL, COOL.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

PAWN has 7 legal one-letter neighbors. PAIN, DAWN, LAWN, PAWS, SAWN keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin FAWN (+1), YAWN (+1).

Compare 7 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
PAIN	3: W -> I	6	Keeps par	2
DAWN	1: P -> D	6	Keeps par	1
LAWN	1: P -> L	6	Keeps par	1
PAWS	4: N -> S	6	Keeps par	2
SAWN	1: P -> S	6	Keeps par	4
FAWN	1: P -> F	7	Adds 1 move	8
YAWN	1: P -> Y	7	Adds 1 move	8

PAWN opening fingerprint

PAWN groups its legal first moves as tile 1: DAWN, LAWN, SAWN, FAWN, YAWN; tile 3: PAIN; tile 4: PAWS. Two moves from the start, 37 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is CAWS, DOWN, LAIN, PALS, SOWN, DAMN, DARN, DAWN, FAIN, GAIN, HAWS, JAWS, LAWN, LAWS, MAIN, MAWS, PADS, PAID, PAIR, PANS, PAPS, PARS, PASS, PATS.

Your route

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Graph reading

POOL is the narrowest displayed bridge

After POLL becomes POOL, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as ROLL, TOLL, PULL, PILL show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 3
Sideways steps: 3
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 4

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 06:07 UTC Puzzle date: May 25, 2027