Poople answer archive

Poople #320 answer: DUSK to POOP in 6 guesses (July 1, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for July 1, 2026 starts from DUSK. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 6 guesses, and there are 14 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 #320 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 DUSK

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

1. DUSK → BUSK → BUCK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
2. DUSK → BUSK → BUNK → BONK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
3. DUSK → HUSK → HUCK → HOCK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
4. DUSK → HUSK → HUNK → HONK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
5. DUSK → DUCK → BUCK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
6. DUSK → DUCK → HUCK → HOCK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
7. DUSK → DUCK → LUCK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
8. DUSK → DUCK → DOCK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP

6 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

DUSK has 10 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 5 of the 10 legal first moves keep you on par: BUSK, DUCK, DUNK, DUST, HUSK. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: DESK, DISK, MUSK, RUSK, TUSK.

How #320 compares

Par 6 puts #320 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 #320 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #320

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.