POOPLE #368 · 17 Aug 2026

Poople #368 Answer — JAYS to POOP in 5 Moves

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 JAYS 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 BAYS. From there, you have 4 moves left.BAYS

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

JAYS · BAYS · BOYS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP

StartJAYSYour starting word
Move 1BAYSJ — B · letter 1
Move 2BOYSA — O · letter 2
Move 3BOOSY — O · letter 3
Move 4BOOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPB — P · letter 1

2 shortest paths in the checked word list.

Every step, explained.

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

StartJAYSYour starting word
Move 1BAYSJ — B · letter 1
Move 2BOYSA — O · letter 2
Move 3BOOSY — O · letter 3
Move 4BOOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPB — P · letter 1

All 2 equivalent shortest paths

JAYS · BAYS · BOYS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
JAYS · JOYS · BOYS · BOOS · BOOP · 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
JAYS	15	2	BAYS, JOYS
BAYS	17	1	BOYS
BOYS	13	1	BOOS
BOOS	21	1	BOOP
BOOP	12	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

2 ways to move closer.

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

BAYS, JOYS

What about the other moves?

DAYS (5 remaining); GAYS (5 remaining); JABS (5 remaining); JAGS (5 remaining); JAMS (5 remaining); JARS (6 remaining); JAWS (5 remaining); LAYS (5 remaining); NAYS (5 remaining); PAYS (5 remaining); RAYS (5 remaining); SAYS (5 remaining); WAYS (5 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

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