POOPLE #185 · 15 Feb 2026

TICS to POOP.

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

6shortest moves
17shortest paths
Moderateour distance-based rating
01A gentle nudgeJust the shortest length. No words revealed.
You can get from TICS to POOP in 6 moves. That means 7 words, including the start.
02A little more directionFind out which letter to change first.
One shortest route starts by changing letter 4. 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 TICK. From there, you have 5 moves left.TICK
04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

TICS · TICK · HICK · HOCK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP

  1. StartTICSYour starting word
  2. Move 1TICKS — K · letter 4
  3. Move 2HICKT — H · letter 1
  4. Move 3HOCKI — O · letter 2
  5. Move 4HOOKC — O · letter 3
  6. Move 5HOOPK — P · letter 4
  7. Move 6POOPH — P · letter 1

17 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. StartTICSYour starting word
  2. Move 1TICKS — K · letter 4
  3. Move 2HICKT — H · letter 1
  4. Move 3HOCKI — O · letter 2
  5. Move 4HOOKC — O · letter 3
  6. Move 5HOOPK — P · letter 4
  7. Move 6POOPH — P · letter 1
All 17 equivalent shortest paths
  1. TICS · TICK · HICK · HOCK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
  2. TICS · TICK · LICK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
  3. TICS · TICK · TOCK · BOCK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
  4. TICS · TICK · TOCK · COCK · COOK · COOP · POOP
  5. TICS · TICK · TOCK · HOCK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
  6. TICS · TICK · TOCK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
  7. TICS · TICK · TOCK · TOOK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
  8. TICS · TICK · TOCK · TOOK · COOK · COOP · POOP
  9. TICS · TICK · TOCK · TOOK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
  10. TICS · TICK · TOCK · TOOK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
  11. TICS · TICK · TOCK · TOOK · TOOL · POOL · POOP
  12. TICS · TINS · TONS · CONS · COOS · COOP · POOP
  13. TICS · TIPS · TOPS · BOPS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
  14. TICS · TIPS · TOPS · COPS · COOS · COOP · POOP
  15. TICS · TITS · BITS · BOTS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
  16. TICS · TITS · TOTS · BOTS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
  17. TICS · TITS · TOTS · 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.

WordLegal choicesOn a shortest routeNext words on a shortest route
TICS84TICK, TINS, TIPS, TITS
TICK133HICK, LICK, TOCK
HICK121HOCK
HOCK171HOOK
HOOK141HOOP
HOOP91POOP

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