Poople answer archive

Poople #435 answer: GENE to POOP in 6 guesses (October 24, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for October 24, 2026 starts from GENE. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 6 guesses, and there are 11 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 #435 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 GENE

11 different ladders reach POOP in 6 guesses from GENE. Here are 8 of them, the first using the most common words:

1. GENE → GONE → BONE → BONK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
2. GENE → GONE → CONE → COME → POME → POMP → POOP
3. GENE → GONE → CONE → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP
4. GENE → GONE → CONE → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP
5. GENE → GONE → CONE → CONK → COOK → COOP → POOP
6. GENE → GONE → CONE → CONS → COOS → COOP → POOP
7. GENE → GONE → DONE → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP
8. GENE → GONE → HONE → HOME → POME → POMP → POOP

3 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

GENE has 2 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). Only one first move keeps you on par: GONE. Every other legal move costs at least a guess. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: GENS.

How #435 compares

Par 6 puts #435 among the longer puzzles: only 13% 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 5 guesses.

Replay Poople #435 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #435

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.