Historical route lab

Poople #662 CUES Answer

Poople #662 started at CUES on June 7, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence E>P, U>O, P>O, S>P, C>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 CUES, including 11 legal openings and route signature 3-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

CUES route profile

Par5 moves6 words including start and target

Shortest routes3Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves113 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 5-move answer

CUES -> CUPS -> COPS -> COOS -> COOP -> POOP

Step 0CUESStart

Step 1CUPSBridge

Step 2COPSBridge

Step 3COOSBridge

Step 4COOPBridge

Step 5POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1CUES -> CUPS

Tile 3 changes E to P; the move is sideways by letter shape. CUPS has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CUES include CUTS, CUBS, DUES, SUES.
Step 2CUPS -> COPS

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COPS has 20 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from CUPS include CUTS, CAPS, CUBS, PUPS.
Step 3COPS -> COOS

Tile 3 changes P to O; the move is closer by letter shape. COOS has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COPS include CONS, COWS, COTS, COGS.
Step 4COOS -> COOP

Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. COOP has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from COOS include COOL, COOK, BOOS, COOT.
Step 5COOP -> POOP

Tile 1 changes C to P; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 11 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from COOP include LOOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

CUES has 11 legal one-letter neighbors. CUTS, CUPS, CUBS keep the route at 5 moves, while sampled detours begin DUES (+1), SUES (+1), HUES (+1), CUSS (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
CUTS	3: E -> T	5	Keeps par	1
CUPS	3: E -> P	5	Keeps par	1
CUBS	3: E -> B	5	Keeps par	1
DUES	1: C -> D	6	Adds 1 move	1
SUES	1: C -> S	6	Adds 1 move	1
HUES	1: C -> H	6	Adds 1 move	3
CUSS	3: E -> S	6	Adds 1 move	3
CUMS	3: E -> M	6	Adds 1 move	10

CUES opening fingerprint

CUES groups its legal first moves as tile 1: DUES, SUES, HUES, RUES; tile 3: CUTS, CUPS, CUBS, CUSS, CUMS, CURS; tile 4: CUED. Two moves from the start, 79 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is COBS, COTS, BUBS, BUMS, BUTS, CABS, CAMS, CAPS, CATS, COED, CUBS, CUTS, DOES, HOES, HUED, HUMS, RUMS, SUMS, BURS, CARS, CRED, CUBE, CUMS, CURD.

Your route

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Graph reading

CUPS is the narrowest displayed bridge

After CUES becomes CUPS, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as CUTS, CUBS, DUES, SUES show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 1
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 3

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 19:34 UTC Puzzle date: June 7, 2027