Historical route lab

Poople #668 MACE Answer

Poople #668 started at MACE on June 13, 2027. Its flexible opening changes letters in the sequence M>L, E>K, A>O, C>O, K>P, L>P, with 4 par-preserving first moves.

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Archive value: this is not a copied daily page. Its tables are calculated for MACE, including 14 legal openings and route signature 1-4-2-3-4-1.

Calculated from the current word graph

MACE route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes13Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves144 keep par

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

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

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

MACE -> LACE -> LACK -> LOCK -> LOOK -> LOOP -> POOP

Step 0MACEStart

Step 1LACEBridge

Step 2LACKBridge

Step 3LOCKBridge

Step 4LOOKBridge

Step 5LOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1MACE -> LACE

Tile 1 changes M to L; the move is sideways by letter shape. LACE has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from MACE include MALE, PACE, MARE, MAKE.
Step 2LACE -> LACK

Tile 4 changes E to K; the move is sideways by letter shape. LACK has 15 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LACE include PACE, LAME, LACY, LICE.
Step 3LACK -> LOCK

Tile 2 changes A to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOCK has 18 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LACK include BACK, LUCK, HACK, LICK.
Step 4LOCK -> LOOK

Tile 3 changes C to O; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOK has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from LOCK include COCK, BOCK, HOCK, ROCK.
Step 5LOOK -> LOOP

Tile 4 changes K to P; the move is closer by letter shape. LOOP has 9 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from LOOK include BOOK, COOK, HOOK, LOOM.
Step 6LOOP -> POOP

Tile 1 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 LOOP include COOP, HOOP, BOOP, GOOP.

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

MACE has 14 legal one-letter neighbors. MALE, PACE, LACE, MARE keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin MAKE (+1), MADE (+1), FACE (+1), RACE (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
MALE	3: C -> L	6	Keeps par	6
PACE	1: M -> P	6	Keeps par	4
LACE	1: M -> L	6	Keeps par	1
MARE	3: C -> R	6	Keeps par	2
MAKE	3: C -> K	7	Adds 1 move	23
MADE	3: C -> D	7	Adds 1 move	23
FACE	1: M -> F	7	Adds 1 move	15
RACE	1: M -> R	7	Adds 1 move	20

MACE opening fingerprint

MACE groups its legal first moves as tile 1: PACE, LACE, FACE, RACE; tile 2: MICE; tile 3: MALE, MARE, MAKE, MADE, MATE, MAZE, MAGE, MANE; tile 4: MACH. Two moves from the start, 122 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is MALL, MOLE, MORE, PALE, PARE, BADE, BALE, BANE, BARE, CAGE, CAKE, CANE, CARE, DALE, DARE, DATE, DAZE, DICE, FAME, FARE, GALE, HALE, HARE, KALE.

Your route

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Graph reading

LOOP is the narrowest displayed bridge

After LOOK becomes LOOP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BOOK, COOK, HOOK, LOOM 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: live Graph synced: 2026-08-27 01:16 UTC Puzzle date: June 13, 2027