Poople answer archive

Poople #386 answer: RACK to POOP in 5 guesses (September 5, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 5, 2026 starts from RACK. 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 #386 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 RACK

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

1. RACK → BACK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
2. RACK → HACK → HOCK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
3. RACK → LACK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
4. RACK → ROCK → BOCK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
5. RACK → ROCK → COCK → COOK → COOP → POOP
6. RACK → ROCK → HOCK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
7. RACK → ROCK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP
8. RACK → ROCK → ROOK → BOOK → BOOP → 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

RACK has 12 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 4 of the 12 legal first moves keep you on par: BACK, HACK, LACK, ROCK. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: JACK, PACK, RANK, SACK, TACK, WACK. Moves that cost two or more: RACE, RACY.

How #386 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 #386 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #386

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.