POOPLE #272 · 13 May 2026

MUST to POOP.

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

5shortest moves

9shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

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

You can get from MUST 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 LUST. From there, you have 4 moves left.LUST

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

MUST · LUST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP

StartMUSTYour starting word
Move 1LUSTM — L · letter 1
Move 2LOSTU — O · letter 2
Move 3LOOTS — O · letter 3
Move 4LOOPT — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPL — P · letter 1

9 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.

StartMUSTYour starting word
Move 1LUSTM — L · letter 1
Move 2LOSTU — O · letter 2
Move 3LOOTS — O · letter 3
Move 4LOOPT — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPL — P · letter 1

All 9 equivalent shortest paths

MUST · LUST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · COST · COOT · COOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · HOST · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · MOOT · BOOT · BOOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · MOOT · COOT · COOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · MOOT · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · MOOT · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
MUST · MOST · MOOT · MOOR · POOR · 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
MUST	15	2	LUST, MOST
LUST	12	1	LOST
LOST	13	1	LOOT
LOOT	16	1	LOOP
LOOP	9	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

2 ways to move closer.

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

LUST, MOST

What about the other moves?

BUST (5 remaining); DUST (5 remaining); GUST (5 remaining); JUST (5 remaining); MAST (5 remaining); MIST (5 remaining); MUSE (6 remaining); MUSH (6 remaining); MUSK (6 remaining); MUSS (5 remaining); MUTT (6 remaining); OUST (5 remaining); RUST (5 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

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