Poople #654 started at CLUB on May 30, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence B>E, C>F, U>O, E>P, F>P, L>O, with 2 par-preserving first moves.
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 C-L-U-B. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Tile 4 changes B to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. CLUE has 4 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CLUB include FLUB, CHUB.
Step 2CLUE -> FLUE
Tile 1 changes C to F; the move is sideways by letter shape. FLUE has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CLUE include BLUE, GLUE.
Step 3FLUE -> FLOE
Tile 3 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. FLOE has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FLUE include FLEE, BLUE, FLUX, GLUE.
Step 4FLOE -> FLOP
Tile 4 changes E to P; the move is closer by letter shape. FLOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from FLOE include FLOW, FLOG, SLOE, ALOE.
Step 5FLOP -> PLOP
Tile 1 changes F to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PLOP has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from FLOP include SLOP, CLOP, GLOP, FLOW.
Step 6PLOP -> POOP
Tile 2 changes L to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PLOP include PROP, PLOT, PLOW, PLOY.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
CLUB has 3 legal one-letter neighbors. CLUE, FLUB keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin CHUB (+2).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
CLUE
4: B -> E
6
Keeps par
1
FLUB
1: C -> F
6
Keeps par
3
CHUB
2: L -> H
8
Adds 2 moves
4
CLUB opening fingerprint
CLUB groups its legal first moves as tile 1: FLUB; tile 2: CHUB; tile 4: CLUE. Two moves from the start, 6 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is FLAB, BLUE, FLUX, GLUE, CHUG, CHUM.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading
CLUE is the narrowest displayed bridge
After CLUB becomes CLUE, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as FLUB, CHUB show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-26 10:56 UTCPuzzle date: May 30, 2027