POOPLE #5 · 19 Aug 2025

HALE to POOP.

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

5shortest moves

10shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

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

You can get from HALE 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 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 HALL. From there, you have 4 moves left.HALL

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

HALE · HALL · PALL · POLL · POOL · POOP

StartHALEYour starting word
Move 1HALLE — L · letter 4
Move 2PALLH — P · letter 1
Move 3POLLA — O · letter 2
Move 4POOLL — O · letter 3
Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4

10 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.

StartHALEYour starting word
Move 1HALLE — L · letter 4
Move 2PALLH — P · letter 1
Move 3POLLA — O · letter 2
Move 4POOLL — O · letter 3
Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4

All 10 equivalent shortest paths

HALE · HALL · PALL · POLL · POOL · POOP
HALE · HALT · HOLT · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
HALE · HOLE · HOLD · HOOD · HOOP · POOP
HALE · HOLE · HOLT · HOOT · HOOP · POOP
HALE · HOLE · HOME · POME · POMP · POOP
HALE · HOLE · POLE · POLL · POOL · POOP
HALE · HOLE · POLE · POME · POMP · POOP
HALE · PALE · PALL · POLL · POOL · POOP
HALE · PALE · POLE · POLL · POOL · POOP
HALE · PALE · POLE · POME · POMP · 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
HALE	19	4	HALL, HALT, HOLE, PALE
HALL	17	1	PALL
PALL	16	1	POLL
POLL	12	1	POOL
POOL	8	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

4 ways to move closer.

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

HALL, HALT, HOLE, PALE

What about the other moves?

BALE (5 remaining); DALE (5 remaining); GALE (5 remaining); HALF (5 remaining); HALO (5 remaining); HARE (5 remaining); HATE (6 remaining); HAVE (6 remaining); HAZE (6 remaining); KALE (5 remaining); MALE (5 remaining); SALE (5 remaining); TALE (5 remaining); VALE (5 remaining); WALE (5 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

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