POOPLE #431 · 19 Oct 2026

PEST 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 PEST 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 HEST. From there, you have 4 moves left.HEST

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

PEST · HEST · HOST · HOOT · HOOP · POOP

StartPESTYour starting word
Move 1HESTP — H · letter 1
Move 2HOSTE — O · letter 2
Move 3HOOTS — O · letter 3
Move 4HOOPT — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPH — 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.

StartPESTYour starting word
Move 1HESTP — H · letter 1
Move 2HOSTE — O · letter 2
Move 3HOOTS — O · letter 3
Move 4HOOPT — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPH — P · letter 1

All 9 equivalent shortest paths

PEST · HEST · HOST · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
PEST · LEST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
PEST · PEAT · PLAT · PLAP · PLOP · POOP
PEST · PEAT · PLAT · PLOT · PLOP · POOP
PEST · POST · COST · COOT · COOP · POOP
PEST · POST · HOST · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
PEST · POST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
PEST · POST · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP
PEST · POST · POUT · POUR · 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
PEST	18	4	HEST, LEST, PEAT, POST
HEST	14	1	HOST
HOST	9	1	HOOT
HOOT	15	1	HOOP
HOOP	9	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

4 ways to move closer.

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

HEST, LEST, PEAT, POST

What about the other moves?

BEST (5 remaining); FEST (5 remaining); JEST (5 remaining); NEST (5 remaining); PAST (5 remaining); PELT (5 remaining); PENT (5 remaining); PERT (5 remaining); PESO (6 remaining); REST (5 remaining); TEST (5 remaining); VEST (5 remaining); WEST (5 remaining); ZEST (5 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

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