Poople answer archive

Poople #371 answer: MICE to POOP in 6 guesses (August 21, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for August 21, 2026 starts from MICE. 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 #371 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 MICE

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

1. MICE → DICE → DIME → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP
2. MICE → LICE → LIME → LIMP → PIMP → POMP → POOP
3. MICE → LICE → LICK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
4. MICE → MIKE → PIKE → POKE → POME → POMP → POOP
5. MICE → MILE → PILE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP
6. MICE → MILE → PILE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP
7. MICE → MILE → PILE → PILL → POLL → POOL → POOP
8. MICE → MILE → MOLE → POLE → POME → POMP → 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

MICE has 14 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 6 of the 14 legal first moves keep you on par: DICE, LICE, MIKE, MILE, MIME, MIRE. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: MACE, MICS, MINE, MITE, NICE, RICE, VICE. Moves that cost two or more: MICA.

How #371 compares

Par 6 puts #371 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 #371 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #371

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.