Poople answer archive

Poople #306 answer: ARTS to POOP in 8 guesses (June 17, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for June 17, 2026 starts from ARTS. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 8 guesses, and there are 13 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 #306 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 ARTS

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

1. ARTS → ANTS → ANDS → AIDS → BIDS → BODS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
2. ARTS → APTS → OPTS → OATS → BATS → BOTS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
3. ARTS → APTS → OPTS → OATS → CATS → COTS → COOS → COOP → POOP
4. ARTS → APTS → OPTS → OUTS → BUTS → BOTS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
5. ARTS → APTS → OPTS → OUTS → CUTS → COTS → COOS → COOP → POOP
6. ARTS → ARKS → IRKS → IRIS → BRIS → BROS → PROS → PROP → POOP
7. ARTS → ARKS → IRKS → IRIS → BRIS → BROS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
8. ARTS → ARMS → AIMS → DIMS → DOMS → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP

5 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

ARTS has 6 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 4 of the 6 legal first moves keep you on par: ANTS, APTS, ARKS, ARMS. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: ACTS, ARCS.

How #306 compares

Par 8 puts #306 among the longer puzzles: only 2% 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 7 guesses.

Replay Poople #306 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #306

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.