POOPLE #98 · 20 Nov 2025

DUCT to POOP.

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

6shortest moves
8shortest paths
Moderateour distance-based rating
01A gentle nudgeJust the shortest length. No words revealed.
You can get from DUCT to POOP in 6 moves. That means 7 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 DUCK. From there, you have 5 moves left.DUCK
04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

DUCT · DUCK · BUCK · BOCK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP

  1. StartDUCTYour starting word
  2. Move 1DUCKT — K · letter 4
  3. Move 2BUCKD — B · letter 1
  4. Move 3BOCKU — O · letter 2
  5. Move 4BOOKC — O · letter 3
  6. Move 5BOOPK — P · letter 4
  7. Move 6POOPB — P · letter 1

8 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.

  1. StartDUCTYour starting word
  2. Move 1DUCKT — K · letter 4
  3. Move 2BUCKD — B · letter 1
  4. Move 3BOCKU — O · letter 2
  5. Move 4BOOKC — O · letter 3
  6. Move 5BOOPK — P · letter 4
  7. Move 6POOPB — P · letter 1
All 8 equivalent shortest paths
  1. DUCT · DUCK · BUCK · BOCK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
  2. DUCT · DUCK · DOCK · BOCK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
  3. DUCT · DUCK · DOCK · COCK · COOK · COOP · POOP
  4. DUCT · DUCK · DOCK · HOCK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
  5. DUCT · DUCK · DOCK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
  6. DUCT · DUCK · HUCK · HOCK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
  7. DUCT · DUCK · LUCK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
  8. DUCT · DUST · LUST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · 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.

WordLegal choicesOn a shortest routeNext words on a shortest route
DUCT32DUCK, DUST
DUCK144BUCK, DOCK, HUCK, LUCK
BUCK141BOCK
BOCK161BOOK
BOOK171BOOP
BOOP121POOP

Historical entry reconstructed from the official schedule available on 10 Nov 2026. Source and verification details.