Poople #666 started at OILY on June 11, 2027. Its narrow opening changes letters in the sequence O>W, Y>L, W>P, I>O, 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 O-I-L-Y. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal the complete 6-move answer
OILY -> WILY -> WILL -> PILL -> POLL -> POOL -> POOP
Step 0OILYStart
Step 1WILYBridge
Step 2WILLBridge
Step 3PILLBridge
Step 4POLLBridge
Step 5POOLBridge
Step 6POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Step 1OILY -> WILY
Tile 1 changes O to W; the move is sideways by letter shape. WILY has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from OILY include LILY, ONLY, OILS, OWLY.
Step 2WILY -> WILL
Tile 4 changes Y to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. WILL has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WILY include WILD, WILT, WILE, LILY.
Step 3WILL -> PILL
Tile 1 changes W to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PILL has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from WILL include BILL, HILL, WALL, FILL.
Step 4PILL -> 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, BILL, HILL.
Step 5POLL -> 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 6POOL -> 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?
OILY has 5 legal one-letter neighbors, but only WILY keeps the route at 6 moves. Nearby detours begin LILY (+1), ONLY (+2), OILS (+2), OWLY (+2).
Compare 5 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
WILY
1: O -> W
6
Keeps par
1
LILY
1: O -> L
7
Adds 1 move
4
ONLY
2: I -> N
8
Adds 2 moves
1
OILS
4: Y -> S
8
Adds 2 moves
6
OWLY
2: I -> W
8
Adds 2 moves
1
OILY opening fingerprint
OILY groups its legal first moves as tile 1: WILY, LILY; tile 2: ONLY, OWLY; tile 4: OILS. Two moves from the start, 11 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is LILT, WILD, WILE, WILT, AILS, LILY, NILS, WIRY, ONLY, OWLY, OWLS.
Your route
Compare a path you played
Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.
Graph reading
WILY is the narrowest displayed bridge
After OILY becomes WILY, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as LILY, ONLY, OILS, OWLY show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
2
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: liveGraph synced: 2026-08-26 23:29 UTCPuzzle date: June 11, 2027