Poople answer archive

Poople #316 answer: NANA to POOP in 8 guesses (June 27, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for June 27, 2026 starts from NANA. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 8 guesses, and there are 59 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 #316 yourself in the archive: same starting word, same word list, with undo and hints. Or play today's Poople and the unlimited mode. Curious about a ladder of your own? The Poople solver finds the shortest path between any two four-letter words.

Every shortest ladder from NANA

59 different ladders reach POOP in 8 guesses from NANA. Here are 8 of them, the first using the most common words:

1. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LIMA → LIMP → PIMP → POMP → POOP
2. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LUMA → PUMA → PUMP → POMP → POOP
3. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LUMA → LUMP → PUMP → POMP → POOP
4. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LAMP → CAMP → COMP → POMP → POOP
5. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LAMP → CAMP → COMP → COOP → POOP
6. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LAMP → RAMP → ROMP → POMP → POOP
7. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LAMP → LIMP → PIMP → POMP → POOP
8. NANA → MANA → MAMA → LAMA → LAMP → LUMP → PUMP → POMP → POOP

51 more shortest ladders exist beyond these 8; the solver below can list routes from any word.

First moves: which keep par and which don't

NANA has 4 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 3 of the 4 legal first moves keep you on par: MANA, NADA, NANO. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: KANA.

How #316 compares

Par 8 puts #316 among the longer puzzles: only 2% of all Pooples so far have needed more guesses. The fastest ladders go through an -OO- word one step from POOP (LOOP, HOOP, COOP, POOL, POOR, POOF); the shortest route above reaches one in 7 guesses.

Replay Poople #316 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #316

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.