Poople answer archive

Poople #388 answer: ITCH to POOP in 10 guesses (September 7, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 7, 2026 starts from ITCH. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 10 guesses, and there are 64 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 #388 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 ITCH

64 different ladders reach POOP in 10 guesses from ITCH. Here are 8 of them, the first using the most common words:

1. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → BUCK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
2. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → HUCK → HOCK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
3. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → LUCK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
4. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → MOCK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
5. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → MOCK → COCK → COOK → COOP → POOP
6. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → MOCK → HOCK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
7. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → MOCK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
8. ITCH → ETCH → EACH → MACH → MUCH → MUCK → MOCK → MOOK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP

56 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

ITCH has 2 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). Only one first move keeps you on par: ETCH. Every other legal move costs at least a guess. Moves that cost two or more: INCH.

How #388 compares

Par 10 puts #388 among the longer puzzles: only 0% 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 9 guesses.

Replay Poople #388 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #388

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.