Poople answer archive

Poople #439 answer: CYAN to POOP in 5 guesses (October 28, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for October 28, 2026 starts from CYAN. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 4 shortest routes. Here is one of them, using the most common words:

  1. CYAN
  2. CLAN
  3. PLAN
  4. PLAP
  5. PLOP
  6. POOP

Puzzle numbers follow the original game, which switches to a new word at 08:00 UTC.

Want to play instead of peeking?

Replay Poople #439 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 CYAN

4 different ladders reach POOP in 5 guesses from CYAN. Here they all are, the first using the most common words:

  1. CYAN → CLAN → PLAN → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
  2. CYAN → CLAN → CLAP → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
  3. CYAN → CLAN → CLAP → CLOP → PLOP → POOP
  4. CYAN → CLAN → CLAP → CLOP → COOP → POOP

First moves: which keep par and which don't

CYAN has 1 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). Only one first move keeps you on par: CLAN. Every other legal move costs at least a guess.

How #439 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 #439 yourself

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

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.