POOPLE #150 · 11 Jan 2026

Poople #150 Answer — HATS to POOP in 5 Moves

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

5shortest moves

4shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

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

You can get from HATS 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 BATS. From there, you have 4 moves left.BATS

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

HATS · BATS · BOTS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP

StartHATSYour starting word
Move 1BATSH — B · letter 1
Move 2BOTSA — O · letter 2
Move 3BOOST — O · letter 3
Move 4BOOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPB — P · letter 1

4 shortest paths in the checked word list.

Every step, explained.

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

StartHATSYour starting word
Move 1BATSH — B · letter 1
Move 2BOTSA — O · letter 2
Move 3BOOST — O · letter 3
Move 4BOOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPB — P · letter 1

All 4 equivalent shortest paths

HATS · BATS · BOTS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
HATS · CATS · COTS · COOS · COOP · POOP
HATS · HOTS · BOTS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
HATS · HOTS · COTS · COOS · COOP · 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.

Word	Legal choices	On a shortest route	Next words on a shortest route
HATS	19	3	BATS, CATS, HOTS
BATS	22	1	BOTS
BOTS	22	1	BOOS
BOOS	21	1	BOOP
BOOP	12	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

3 ways to move closer.

From HATS, these words reduce the remaining shortest distance by one:

BATS, CATS, HOTS

What about the other moves?

EATS (5 remaining); FATS (5 remaining); HAGS (5 remaining); HAMS (5 remaining); HAPS (5 remaining); HATE (6 remaining); HAWS (5 remaining); HITS (5 remaining); HUTS (5 remaining); LATS (5 remaining); MATS (5 remaining); OATS (5 remaining); PATS (5 remaining); RATS (5 remaining); TATS (5 remaining); VATS (5 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

Our solver searches the checked word list one move at a time. HATS 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.

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