Poople answer archive

Poople #453 answer: ICES to POOP in 9 guesses (November 11, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for November 11, 2026 starts from ICES. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 9 guesses, and there are 4 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 #453 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 ICES

4 different ladders reach POOP in 9 guesses from ICES. Here they all are, the first using the most common words:

1. ICES → ACES → APES → APED → SPED → SLED → PLED → PLOD → PLOP → POOP
2. ICES → ACES → ACED → APED → SPED → SLED → PLED → PLOD → PLOP → POOP
3. ICES → IDES → IDEM → ITEM → STEM → STEP → STOP → SLOP → PLOP → POOP
4. ICES → ICED → ACED → APED → SPED → SLED → PLED → PLOD → PLOP → POOP

First moves: which keep par and which don't

ICES has 4 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 3 of the 4 legal first moves keep you on par: ACES, ICED, IDES. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: ICER.

How #453 compares

Par 9 puts #453 among the longer puzzles: only 0% 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 8 guesses.

Replay Poople #453 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #453

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.