Poople answer archive

Poople #380 answer: CAPE to POOP in 5 guesses (August 30, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for August 30, 2026 starts from CAPE. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there are 11 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 #380 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 CAPE

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

1. CAPE → COPE → POPE → POME → POMP → POOP
2. CAPE → COPE → COME → POME → POMP → POOP
3. CAPE → COPE → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP
4. CAPE → COPE → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP
5. CAPE → COPE → COPS → COOS → COOP → POOP
6. CAPE → CAME → COME → POME → POMP → POOP
7. CAPE → CAME → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP
8. CAPE → CAME → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP

3 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

CAPE has 15 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 3 of the 15 legal first moves keep you on par: CAME, CAPS, COPE. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: CAFE, CAGE, CAKE, CANE, CAPO, CARE, CASE, CAVE, NAPE, TAPE. Moves that cost two or more: GAPE, JAPE.

How #380 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 #380 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #380

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.