Historical route lab

Poople #653 DECK Answer

Poople #653 started at DECK on May 29, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence E>O, D>L, C>O, K>P, L>P, with 3 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for DECK, including 10 legal openings and route signature 2-1-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

DECK route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes6Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves103 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

DECK -> DOCK -> LOCK -> LOOK -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0DECKStart

Step 1DOCKBridge

Step 2LOCKBridge

Step 3LOOKBridge

Step 4LOOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1DECK -> DOCK

Tile 2 changes E to O; the move is closer by letter shape. DOCK has 16 legal neighbors, 4 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DECK include BECK, HECK, DICK, NECK.
Step 2DOCK -> LOCK

Tile 1 changes D to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LOCK has 18 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DOCK include COCK, BOCK, HOCK, ROCK.
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?

DECK has 10 legal one-letter neighbors. DOCK, BECK, HECK keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin DICK (+1), NECK (+1), DUCK (+1), PECK (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
DOCK	2: E -> O	5	Keeps par	4
BECK	1: D -> B	5	Keeps par	1
HECK	1: D -> H	5	Keeps par	1
DICK	2: E -> I	6	Adds 1 move	6
NECK	1: D -> N	6	Adds 1 move	10
DUCK	2: E -> U	6	Adds 1 move	7
PECK	1: D -> P	6	Adds 1 move	7
FECK	1: D -> F	6	Adds 1 move	2

DECK opening fingerprint

DECK groups its legal first moves as tile 1: BECK, HECK, NECK, PECK, FECK; tile 2: DOCK, DICK, DUCK; tile 3: DESK; tile 4: DECO. Two moves from the start, 51 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BOCK, COCK, HOCK, BACK, BECK, BUCK, DORK, HACK, HECK, HICK, HUCK, JOCK, LICK, LUCK, MOCK, NOCK, PEEK, POCK, ROCK, SOCK, TOCK, BEAK, DICE, DICK.

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 10:00 UTC Puzzle date: May 29, 2027