Poople answer archive

Poople #343 answer: TILE to POOP in 5 guesses (July 24, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for July 24, 2026 starts from TILE. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 12 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 #343 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 TILE

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

1. TILE → PILE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP
2. TILE → PILE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP
3. TILE → PILE → PILL → POLL → POOL → POOP
4. TILE → TOLE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP
5. TILE → TOLE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP
6. TILE → TOLE → TOME → POME → POMP → POOP
7. TILE → TOLE → TOLL → POLL → POOL → POOP
8. TILE → TOLE → TOLL → TOOL → POOL → POOP

4 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

TILE has 15 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 4 of the 15 legal first moves keep you on par: PILE, TILL, TIME, TOLE. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: BILE, FILE, MILE, RILE, TALE, TIDE, TILT, TINE, TIRE, VILE, WILE.

How #343 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 #343 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #343

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.