Poople answer archive

Poople #289 answer: GRAY to POOP in 5 guesses (May 31, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for May 31, 2026 starts from GRAY. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 9 different shortest routes. Here is one of them, using the most common words:

Puzzle numbers follow the original game, which switches to a new word at 08:00 UTC.

Want to play instead of peeking?

Replay Poople #289 yourself in the archive: same starting word, same word list, with undo and hints. Or try today's Poople Unlimited puzzle and the unlimited mode. Curious about a ladder of your own? The word ladder solver finds the shortest path between any two four-letter words.

How the shortest path is found

Every four-letter word in the game's word list is a node; two words are linked when they differ by one letter. A breadth-first search from POOP gives the minimum number of steps for every word. When several shortest ladders exist, the one shown prefers common words, so it reads naturally — the same idea the original game uses for its "yesterday" solution.