Poople answer archive

Poople #431 answer: PEST to POOP in 5 guesses (October 20, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for October 20, 2026 starts from PEST. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 9 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 #431 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 PEST

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

1. PEST → HEST → HOST → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
2. PEST → LEST → LOST → LOOT → LOOP → POOP
3. PEST → POST → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP
4. PEST → POST → HOST → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
5. PEST → POST → LOST → LOOT → LOOP → POOP
6. PEST → POST → POUT → POUR → POOR → POOP
7. PEST → POST → POSE → POME → POMP → POOP
8. PEST → PEAT → PLAT → PLOT → PLOP → POOP

1 more shortest ladder exist beyond these 8; the solver below can list routes from any word.

First moves: which keep par and which don't

PEST has 18 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 4 of the 18 legal first moves keep you on par: HEST, LEST, PEAT, POST. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: BEST, FEST, JEST, NEST, PAST, PELT, PENT, PERT, REST, TEST, VEST, WEST, ZEST. Moves that cost two or more: PESO.

How #431 compares

Par 5 is the most common Poople length: about 54% 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 #431 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #431

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.