POOPLE #12 · 26 Aug 2025

SAKE to POOP.

A little help for this word ladder. Open only the hints you need.

5shortest moves

1shortest path

Easyour distance-based rating

01A gentle nudgeJust the shortest length. No words revealed.

You can get from SAKE to POOP in 5 moves. That means 6 words, including the start.

02A little more directionFind out which letter to change first.

One shortest route starts by changing letter 3. You do not have to match a letter in POOP on every move.

03Your first stepping stoneReveal the first word of a shortest route.

Try SAME. From there, you have 4 moves left.SAME

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

SAKE · SAME · SOME · POME · POMP · POOP

StartSAKEYour starting word
Move 1SAMEK — M · letter 3
Move 2SOMEA — O · letter 2
Move 3POMES — P · letter 1
Move 4POMPE — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPM — O · letter 3

1 shortest path in the checked word list. View the full explanation

Every step, explained.

Full solution below. Stop here if you want to keep solving.

StartSAKEYour starting word
Move 1SAMEK — M · letter 3
Move 2SOMEA — O · letter 2
Move 3POMES — P · letter 1
Move 4POMPE — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPM — O · letter 3

This is the unique shortest path in the checked word list.

Choices at every step

Legal choices change one letter. Shortest-route choices also reduce the remaining distance by one; the counts below refer to the route shown above.

Word	Legal choices	On a shortest route	Next words on a shortest route
SAKE	15	1	SAME
SAME	15	1	SOME
SOME	9	1	POME
POME	11	1	POMP
POMP	6	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

One way to move closer.

From SAKE, this word reduces the remaining shortest distance by one:

SAME

What about the other moves?

BAKE (6 remaining); CAKE (5 remaining); FAKE (6 remaining); LAKE (6 remaining); MAKE (6 remaining); RAKE (6 remaining); SAFE (5 remaining); SAGE (5 remaining); SALE (5 remaining); SANE (5 remaining); SATE (5 remaining); SAVE (5 remaining); TAKE (5 remaining); WAKE (5 remaining).

These moves are valid, but do not lie on a shortest route from SAKE.

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

Our solver searches the checked word list one move at a time. SAKE first reaches POOP at distance 5; no shorter route exists in that list.

Difficulty here is based only on move count: up to 5 is Easy, 6 is Moderate, 7 is Tricky, 8 is Hard, and 9 or more is Expert.

How we check answers

Historical entry reconstructed from the official schedule available on 10 Nov 2026. Source and verification details.