Poople answer archive

Poople #406 answer: TRAY to POOP in 5 guesses (September 25, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 25, 2026 starts from TRAY. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 10 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 #406 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 TRAY

10 different ladders reach POOP in 5 guesses from TRAY. Here are 8 of them, the first using the most common words:

1. TRAY → CRAY → CRAP → CROP → PROP → POOP
2. TRAY → CRAY → CRAP → CROP → COOP → POOP
3. TRAY → PRAY → PLAY → PLOY → PLOP → POOP
4. TRAY → PRAY → PLAY → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
5. TRAY → PRAY → PREY → PREP → PROP → POOP
6. TRAY → PRAY → PRAM → PROM → PROP → POOP
7. TRAY → TRAD → TROD → PROD → PROP → POOP
8. TRAY → TRAM → PRAM → PROM → PROP → POOP

2 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

TRAY has 9 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 5 of the 9 legal first moves keep you on par: CRAY, PRAY, TRAD, TRAM, TRAP. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: BRAY, FRAY, GRAY, XRAY.

How #406 compares

Par 5 is the most common Poople length: about 55% of all puzzles so far have par 5. 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 4 guesses.

Replay Poople #406 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #406

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.