Poople #655 started at VIVA on May 31, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>E, V>L, V>P, E>L, I>O, L>O, L>P, 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 V-I-V-A. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 7-move answer
VIVA -> VIVE -> VILE -> PILE -> PILL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP
Step 0VIVAStart
Step 1VIVEBridge
Step 2VILEBridge
Step 3PILEBridge
Step 4PILLBridge
Step 5POLLBridge
Step 6POOLBridge
Step 7POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1VIVA -> VIVE
Tile 4 changes A to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. VIVE has 13 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from VIVA include DIVA, VISA.
Step 2VIVE -> VILE
Tile 3 changes V to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. VILE has 15 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from VIVE include LIVE, DIVE, GIVE, FIVE.
Step 3VILE -> PILE
Tile 1 changes V to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PILE has 13 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from VILE include VOLE, FILE, MILE, TILE.
Step 4PILE -> PILL
Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. PILL has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PILE include POLE, PIPE, PALE, PIKE.
Step 5PILL -> POLL
Tile 2 changes I 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 PILL include PULL, PALL, WILL, BILL.
Step 6POLL -> 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, DOLL.
Step 7POOL -> 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?
VIVA has 3 legal one-letter neighbors. DIVA, VIVE keep the route at 7 moves, while sampled detours begin VISA (+1).
Compare 3 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
DIVA
1: V -> D
7
Keeps par
2
VIVE
4: A -> E
7
Keeps par
8
VISA
3: V -> S
8
Adds 1 move
7
VIVA opening fingerprint
VIVA groups its legal first moves as tile 1: DIVA; tile 3: VISA; tile 4: VIVE. Two moves from the start, 11 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is DIVE, LIVE, FIVE, GIVE, HIVE, JIVE, VIBE, VICE, VINE, VISE, VITE.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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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, DOLL show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-26 12:12 UTCPuzzle date: May 31, 2027