Poople answer archive

Poople #428 answer: DOJO to POOP in 7 guesses (October 17, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for October 17, 2026 starts from DOJO. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 7 guesses, and there are 12 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 #428 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 word ladder solver finds the shortest path between any two four-letter words.

Every shortest ladder from DOJO

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

1. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → BONK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
2. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → CONK → COOK → COOP → POOP
3. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → HONK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
4. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → MOOK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
5. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → MOOK → COOK → COOP → POOP
6. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → MOOK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
7. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → MOOK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
8. DOJO → MOJO → MONO → MONK → MOOK → MOOR → POOR → POOP

4 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

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

How #428 compares

Par 7 puts #428 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 #428 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #428

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.