Poople answer archive

Poople #382 answer: WATT to POOP in 7 guesses (September 1, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 1, 2026 starts from WATT. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 7 guesses, and there are 67 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 #382 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 WATT

67 different ladders reach POOP in 7 guesses from WATT. Here are 8 of them, the first using the most common words:

1. WATT → WAFT → HAFT → HALT → HOLT → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
2. WATT → WAFT → WEFT → LEFT → LOFT → LOOT → LOOP → POOP
3. WATT → WAIT → WHIT → CHIT → CHIP → CHOP → COOP → POOP
4. WATT → WAIT → WHIT → WHIP → CHIP → CHOP → COOP → POOP
5. WATT → WAIT → WAIL → FAIL → FOIL → FOOL → POOL → POOP
6. WATT → WAIT → WAIL → PAIL → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP
7. WATT → WAIT → WAIL → TAIL → TOIL → TOOL → POOL → POOP
8. WATT → WAIT → WAIL → WALL → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

59 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

WATT has 4 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 4 of the 4 legal first moves keep you on par: WAFT, WAIT, WANT, WART.

How #382 compares

Par 7 puts #382 among the longer puzzles: only 7% 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 6 guesses.

Replay Poople #382 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #382

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.