Poople #665 started at BABY on June 10, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence Y>E, B>L, B>P, A>O, E>L, L>O, L>P, with 1 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 B-A-B-Y. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a consonant-to-vowel change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 7-move answer
BABY -> BABE -> BALE -> PALE -> POLE -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP
Step 0BABYStart
Step 1BABEBridge
Step 2BALEBridge
Step 3PALEBridge
Step 4POLEBridge
Step 5POLLBridge
Step 6POOLBridge
Step 7POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1BABY -> BABE
Tile 4 changes Y to E; the move is sideways by letter shape. BABE has 7 legal neighbors, 5 shortest continuations, and 6 moves remaining. BABY has no additional off-route exit in the sampled branch set.
Step 2BABE -> BALE
Tile 3 changes B to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. BALE has 21 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BABE include BASE, BARE, BANE, BADE.
Step 3BALE -> PALE
Tile 1 changes B to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PALE has 22 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BALE include BALL, SALE, BASE, MALE.
Step 4PALE -> POLE
Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POLE has 18 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from PALE include PALL, PALM, PILE, PALS.
Step 5POLE -> POLL
Tile 4 changes E to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. POLL has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POLE include POME, POPE, POLO, POLY.
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, PILL.
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?
BABY has 1 legal one-letter neighbors, but only BABE keeps the route at 7 moves. Nearby detours begin outside the sampled opening set.
Compare 1 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
BABE
4: Y -> E
7
Keeps par
13
BABY opening fingerprint
BABY groups its legal first moves as tile 4: BABE. Two moves from the start, 5 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BADE, BANE, BARE, BASE, BAKE.
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, PILL 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 22:26 UTCPuzzle date: June 10, 2027