Poople answer archive

Poople #318 answer: LATE to POOP in 6 guesses (June 29, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for June 29, 2026 starts from LATE. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 6 guesses, and there are 27 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 #318 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 LATE

27 different ladders reach POOP in 6 guesses from LATE. Here are 8 of them, the first using the most common words:

1. LATE → DATE → DOTE → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP
2. LATE → DATE → DAME → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP
3. LATE → PATE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP
4. LATE → PATE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP
5. LATE → PATE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP
6. LATE → PATE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP
7. LATE → SATE → SAME → SOME → POME → POMP → POOP
8. LATE → LITE → LIME → LIMP → PIMP → POMP → POOP

19 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

LATE has 17 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 7 of the 17 legal first moves keep you on par: DATE, LACE, LAME, LATS, LITE, PATE, SATE. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: FATE, GATE, HATE, LAKE, LANE, LAVE, LAZE, LUTE, MATE, RATE.

How #318 compares

Par 6 puts #318 among the longer puzzles: only 13% 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 5 guesses.

Replay Poople #318 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #318

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.