Historical route lab

Poople #677 DING Answer

Poople #677 started at DING on June 22, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence I>O, D>B, G>K, N>O, K>P, B>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

Replay DING Scores & notes Browse archive

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

Calculated from the current word graph

DING route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes5Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves142 keep par

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

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 D-I-N-G. Change position 2 and keep positions 1, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-vowel change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

DING -> DONG -> BONG -> BONK -> BOOK -> BOOP -> POOP

Step 0DINGStart

Step 1DONGBridge

Step 2BONGBridge

Step 3BONKBridge

Step 4BOOKBridge

Step 5BOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1DING -> DONG

Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. DONG has 11 legal neighbors, 3 shortest continuations, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DING include DINE, SING, PING, DINO.
Step 2DONG -> BONG

Tile 1 changes D to B; the move is sideways by letter shape. BONG has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from DONG include DONE, DONS, LONG, SONG.
Step 3BONG -> BONK

Tile 4 changes G to K; the move is sideways by letter shape. BONK has 13 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BONG include BOND, BONE, BONY, LONG.
Step 4BONK -> BOOK

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOK has 17 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from BONK include BOCK, HONK, CONK, BANK.
Step 5BOOK -> BOOP

Tile 4 changes K to P; the move is closer by letter shape. BOOP has 12 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from BOOK include LOOK, COOK, BOOT, HOOK.
Step 6BOOP -> POOP

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

DING has 14 legal one-letter neighbors. DONG, DINE keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin SING (+1), PING (+1), DINO (+1), TING (+1).

Compare 8 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
DONG	2: I -> O	6	Keeps par	3
DINE	4: G -> E	6	Keeps par	2
SING	1: D -> S	7	Adds 1 move	3
PING	1: D -> P	7	Adds 1 move	9
DINO	4: G -> O	7	Adds 1 move	2
TING	1: D -> T	7	Adds 1 move	22
DANG	2: I -> A	7	Adds 1 move	8
DUNG	2: I -> U	7	Adds 1 move	9

DING opening fingerprint

DING groups its legal first moves as tile 1: SING, PING, TING, KING, RING, WING, ZING; tile 2: DONG, DANG, DUNG; tile 4: DINE, DINO, DINK, DINT. Two moves from the start, 88 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is DIME, DONE, DONS, BANG, BUNG, DANK, DICE, DICK, DIKE, DINE, DIRE, DIRK, DIVE, DUNE, DUNK, DYNE, GONG, HANG, HINT, HUNG, LINE, LINK, LINT, LONG.

Your route

Compare a path you played

Your route stays in this browser; it is not submitted.

Graph reading

BONG is the narrowest displayed bridge

After DONG becomes BONG, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as DONE, DONS, LONG, SONG show what the route declined.

Direct-shape gains: 4
Sideways steps: 2
Temporary shape detours: 0
Steps touching a vowel: 2

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 10:20 UTC Puzzle date: June 22, 2027