Historical route lab

Poople #681 AUNT Answer

Poople #681 started at AUNT on June 26, 2027. Its selective opening changes letters in the sequence A>H, T>K, U>O, N>O, K>P, H>P, with 2 par-preserving first moves.

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

Calculated from the current word graph

AUNT route profile

Par6 moves7 words including start and target

Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph

Legal first moves42 keep par

Route shapeselective 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 A-U-N-T. Change position 1 and keep positions 2, 3, 4 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. 2 different first moves preserve the shortest length.

Reveal the complete 6-move answer

AUNT -> HUNT -> HUNK -> HONK -> HOOK -> HOOP -> POOP

Step 0AUNTStart

Step 1HUNTBridge

Step 2HUNKBridge

Step 3HONKBridge

Step 4HOOKBridge

Step 5HOOPBridge

Step 6POOPTarget

Route anatomy

What changes at every step

Step 1AUNT -> HUNT

Tile 1 changes A to H; the move is sideways by letter shape. HUNT has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from AUNT include BUNT, PUNT, RUNT.
Step 2HUNT -> HUNK

Tile 4 changes T to K; the move is sideways by letter shape. HUNK has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HUNT include HUNG, HINT, BUNT, HURT.
Step 3HUNK -> HONK

Tile 2 changes U to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HONK has 11 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HUNK include HANK, BUNK, HUCK, PUNK.
Step 4HONK -> HOOK

Tile 3 changes N to O; the move is closer by letter shape. HOOK has 14 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from HONK include HOCK, BONK, CONK, MONK.
Step 5HOOK -> HOOP

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

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

Opening decision

Which first moves preserve par?

AUNT has 4 legal one-letter neighbors. HUNT, BUNT keep the route at 6 moves, while sampled detours begin PUNT (+1), RUNT (+1).

Compare 4 calculated first moves

Move	Changed tile	Total	Verdict	Shortest continuations
HUNT	1: A -> H	6	Keeps par	1
BUNT	1: A -> B	6	Keeps par	1
PUNT	1: A -> P	7	Adds 1 move	8
RUNT	1: A -> R	7	Adds 1 move	5

AUNT opening fingerprint

AUNT groups its legal first moves as tile 1: HUNT, BUNT, PUNT, RUNT. Two moves from the start, 25 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is BUNK, BENT, BUNG, BUNS, BUNT, BUST, BUTT, HINT, HUNG, PENT, PUNK, PUNS, PUNY, RUNS, RUST, HURT, PANT, PINT, PUNT, PUTT, RANT, RENT, RUNE, RUNG.

Your route

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Graph reading

HUNT is the narrowest displayed bridge

After AUNT becomes HUNT, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as BUNT, PUNT, RUNT 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 13:58 UTC Puzzle date: June 26, 2027