POOPLE #203 · 5 Mar 2026

SAWS to POOP.

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

5shortest moves

3shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

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

You can get from SAWS 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 CAWS. From there, you have 4 moves left.CAWS

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

SAWS · CAWS · COWS · COOS · COOP · POOP

StartSAWSYour starting word
Move 1CAWSS — C · letter 1
Move 2COWSA — O · letter 2
Move 3COOSW — O · letter 3
Move 4COOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPC — P · letter 1

3 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.

StartSAWSYour starting word
Move 1CAWSS — C · letter 1
Move 2COWSA — O · letter 2
Move 3COOSW — O · letter 3
Move 4COOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPC — P · letter 1

All 3 equivalent shortest paths

SAWS · CAWS · COWS · COOS · COOP · POOP
SAWS · SOWS · BOWS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
SAWS · SOWS · COWS · 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
SAWS	19	2	CAWS, SOWS
CAWS	16	1	COWS
COWS	17	1	COOS
COOS	15	1	COOP
COOP	14	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

2 ways to move closer.

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

CAWS, SOWS

What about the other moves?

HAWS (5 remaining); JAWS (5 remaining); LAWS (5 remaining); MAWS (5 remaining); PAWS (5 remaining); RAWS (5 remaining); SACS (6 remaining); SADS (5 remaining); SAGS (5 remaining); SANS (5 remaining); SAPS (5 remaining); SARS (6 remaining); SASS (5 remaining); SAWN (5 remaining); SAYS (5 remaining); SEWS (5 remaining); YAWS (5 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

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