Poople answer archive

Poople #367 answer: NEXT to POOP in 6 guesses (August 17, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for August 17, 2026 starts from NEXT. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 6 guesses, and there are 5 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 #367 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 NEXT

5 different ladders reach POOP in 6 guesses from NEXT. Here they all are, the first using the most common words:

1. NEXT → NEAT → BEAT → BOAT → BOOT → BOOP → POOP
2. NEXT → NEAT → PEAT → PLAT → PLOT → PLOP → POOP
3. NEXT → NEAT → PEAT → PLAT → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
4. NEXT → NEST → HEST → HOST → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
5. NEXT → NEST → LEST → LOST → LOOT → LOOP → POOP

First moves: which keep par and which don't

NEXT has 4 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 2 of the 4 legal first moves keep you on par: NEAT, NEST. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: NEWT, TEXT.

How #367 compares

Par 6 puts #367 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 #367 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #367

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.