Missed it? The replay link opens ANTE as a playable challenge before this page reveals the answer.
Calculated from the current word graph
ANTE route profile
Par9 moves10 words including start and target
Shortest routes2Exact routes in the current accepted graph
Legal first moves21 keep par
Opening shapenarrow openingDetailed route analysis is inside the full reveal
Spoiler controls
Choose how much to reveal
The direction names no answer word. Next word reveals one move. Full answer opens the route and every branch analysis. Close a panel to hide it again.
Reveal a direction, not a word
The current row reads A-N-T-E. Change position 4 and keep positions 1, 2, 3 fixed. Look for a vowel-to-consonant change. Only one first move preserves the shortest length.
Reveal only the next word
ANTE → ANTS. Change tile 4. The remaining route stays inside the full reveal.
Reveal the complete 9-move answer
ANTE -> ANTS -> ARTS -> ARMS -> AIMS -> SIMS -> SIMP -> PIMP -> POMP -> POOP
Step 0ANTEStart
Step 1ANTSBridge
Step 2ARTSBridge
Step 3ARMSBridge
Step 4AIMSBridge
Step 5SIMSBridge
Step 6SIMPBridge
Step 7PIMPBridge
Step 8POMPBridge
Step 9POOPTarget
Route anatomy
What changes at every step
Letter positions: 4-2-3-2-1-4-1-2-3. Letter changes: E>S, N>R, T>M, R>I, A>S, S>P, S>P, I>O, M>O.
Step 1ANTE -> ANTS
Tile 4 changes E to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. ANTS has 6 legal neighbors, 2 shortest continuations, and 8 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ANTE include ANTI.
Step 2ANTS -> ARTS
Tile 2 changes N to R; the move is sideways by letter shape. ARTS has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 7 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ANTS include ALTS, ACTS, ANUS, ANTI.
Step 3ARTS -> ARMS
Tile 3 changes T to M; the move is sideways by letter shape. ARMS has 7 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 6 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ARTS include ARCS, ARES, ARKS, ALTS.
Step 4ARMS -> AIMS
Tile 2 changes R to I; the move is sideways by letter shape. AIMS has 8 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 5 moves remaining. Other legal exits from ARMS include ALMS, ARCS, ARES, ARKS.
Step 5AIMS -> SIMS
Tile 1 changes A to S; the move is sideways by letter shape. SIMS has 10 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 4 moves remaining. Other legal exits from AIMS include AIDS, DIMS, RIMS, AILS.
Step 6SIMS -> SIMP
Tile 4 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. SIMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 3 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SIMS include SIPS, SITS, SUMS, DIMS.
Step 7SIMP -> PIMP
Tile 1 changes S to P; the move is closer by letter shape. PIMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 2 moves remaining. Other legal exits from SIMP include LIMP, WIMP, SUMP, GIMP.
Step 8PIMP -> POMP
Tile 2 changes I to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POMP has 6 legal neighbors, 1 shortest continuation, and 1 move remaining. Other legal exits from PIMP include PUMP, LIMP, WIMP, GIMP.
Step 9POMP -> POOP
Tile 3 changes M to O; the move is closer by letter shape. POOP has 12 legal neighbors, target reached, and 0 moves remaining. Other legal exits from POMP include PUMP, ROMP, COMP, POMS.
Opening decision
Which first moves preserve par?
ANTE has 2 legal one-letter neighbors, but only ANTS keeps the route at 9 moves. Nearby detours begin ANTI (+1).
Compare 2 calculated first moves
Move
Changed tile
Total
Verdict
Shortest continuations
ANTS
4: E -> S
9
Keeps par
2
ANTI
4: E -> I
10
Adds 1 move
2
ANTE opening fingerprint
ANTE groups its legal first moves as tile 4: ANTS, ANTI. Two moves from the start, 4 off-route words are reachable; the nearest sampled frontier is ALTS, ACTS, ANUS, ANTI.
Your route
Compare a path you played
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Graph reading
SIMP is the narrowest displayed bridge
After SIMS becomes SIMP, only 1 move preserves the shortest remaining distance. At the prior row, alternatives such as SIPS, SITS, SUMS, DIMS show what the route declined.
Direct-shape gains
4
Sideways steps
5
Temporary shape detours
0
Steps touching a vowel
5
How these figures were calculated
Poople recomputes adjacency and distance from the accepted 2,506-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.
Counts use the full accepted graph, including uncommon words and words with sensitive meanings. The first-move groups list every legal opening. The comparison table, alternative exits, and two-move frontier show samples, not every possible continuation.
Data mode: liveGraph synced: 2026-10-27 19:26 UTCPuzzle date: