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Archive / #142
POOPLE #142 · 3 Jan 2026

JEST to POOP.

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

5shortest moves
2shortest paths
Easyour distance-based rating
01A gentle nudgeJust the shortest length. No words revealed.
You can get from JEST 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 1. 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 HEST. From there, you have 4 moves left.HEST
04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

JEST · HEST · HOST · HOOT · HOOP · POOP

  1. StartJESTYour starting word
  2. Move 1HESTJ — H · letter 1
  3. Move 2HOSTE — O · letter 2
  4. Move 3HOOTS — O · letter 3
  5. Move 4HOOPT — P · letter 4
  6. Move 5POOPH — P · letter 1

2 shortest paths in the checked word list. View the full explanation

Every step, explained.

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

  1. StartJESTYour starting word
  2. Move 1HESTJ — H · letter 1
  3. Move 2HOSTE — O · letter 2
  4. Move 3HOOTS — O · letter 3
  5. Move 4HOOPT — P · letter 4
  6. Move 5POOPH — P · letter 1
All 2 equivalent shortest paths
  1. JEST · HEST · HOST · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
  2. JEST · LEST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP

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.

WordLegal choicesOn a shortest routeNext words on a shortest route
JEST132HEST, LEST
HEST141HOST
HOST91HOOT
HOOT151HOOP
HOOP91POOP

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