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Word ladder solver / BUSH
STARTING-WORD GUIDE

BUSH to POOP.

A reusable word-ladder guide, rather than a dated daily puzzle. Every move below changes exactly one letter.

6minimum moves
6shortest routes
Moderatedistance-based rating

A shortest path from BUSH.

BUSH reaches POOP in 6 moves. The list includes 7 words because the starting position costs no move.

  1. StartBUSHThe starting word; no move used
  2. Move 1BASHReplace U with A in position 2
  3. Move 2BASSReplace H with S in position 4
  4. Move 3BOSSReplace A with O in position 2
  5. Move 4BOOSReplace S with O in position 3
  6. Move 5BOOPReplace S with P in position 4
  7. Move 6POOPReplace B with P in position 1
Compare 6 shortest routes
  1. BUSH · BASH · BASS · BOSS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
  2. BUSH · BUSK · BUCK · BOCK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
  3. BUSH · BUSK · BUNK · BONK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
  4. BUSH · BUST · LUST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
  5. BUSH · LUSH · LUST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
  6. BUSH · PUSH · POSH · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP

This list contains every shortest route in the checked word list.

Which first moves work?

5 next words keep you on a shortest route from BUSH: BASH, BUSK, BUST, LUSH, PUSH.

The table lists all 11 accepted one-letter neighbors. “Moves remaining” starts after that first move. “Total via this word” includes it, so you can compare that choice with the 6-move minimum.

Next wordMoves remainingTotal via this wordResult
BASH56Shortest route
BUSK56Shortest route
BUST56Shortest route
BUSY67Longer route
GUSH67Longer route
HUSH67Longer route
LUSH56Shortest route
MUSH67Longer route
PUSH56Shortest route
RUSH67Longer route
TUSH67Longer route

Why 6 moves is the minimum.

BUSH differs from POOP in 4 letter positions, so any route needs at least 4 changes. The accepted intermediate words require a longer route: the first complete connection in our search occurs at 6 moves.

The solver searches the checked word graph in distance order. It reaches every word one move away before trying two moves, then continues until it reaches POOP. The minimum applies to this word list; another game or dictionary may accept different connections.

Our Moderate label uses distance only: up to 5 moves is Easy, 6 is Moderate, 7 is Tricky, 8 is Hard, and 9 or more is Expert. It does not measure how familiar you will find each word.

Try BUSH with a different target or read the verification method.

More 6-move ladders.

These starting words have the same shortest distance to POOP in the checked list.