Poople answer archive

Poople #347 answer: SLUM to POOP in 5 guesses (July 28, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for July 28, 2026 starts from SLUM. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 7 different shortest routes. Here is one of them, using the most common words:

  1. SLUM
  2. SLUR
  3. SOUR
  4. POUR
  5. POOR
  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 #347 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 SLUM

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

  1. SLUM → GLUM → GLOM → GLOP → PLOP → POOP
  2. SLUM → GLUM → GLOM → GLOP → GOOP → POOP
  3. SLUM → SLAM → SLAP → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
  4. SLUM → SLAM → SLAP → SLOP → PLOP → POOP
  5. SLUM → SLIM → SLIP → SLOP → PLOP → POOP
  6. SLUM → SLUG → SLOG → SLOP → PLOP → POOP
  7. SLUM → SLUR → SOUR → POUR → POOR → POOP

First moves: which keep par and which don't

SLUM has 9 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 5 of the 9 legal first moves keep you on par: GLUM, SLAM, SLIM, SLUG, SLUR. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: ALUM, PLUM. Moves that cost two or more: SCUM, SWUM.

How #347 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 #347 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.