Poople answer archive

Poople #394 answer: AHEM to POOP in 8 guesses (September 13, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 13, 2026 starts from AHEM. 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 #394 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 AHEM

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

1. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → DEEM → DEEP → PEEP → PREP → PROP → POOP
2. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → DEEM → DEER → DOER → DOOR → POOR → POOP
3. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → SEEM → SEEP → PEEP → PREP → PROP → POOP
4. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → TEAM → LEAM → LOAM → LOOM → LOOP → POOP
5. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → TEAM → TRAM → PRAM → PROM → PROP → POOP
6. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → TEED → HEED → HOED → HOOD → HOOP → POOP
7. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → TEED → PEED → PLED → PLOD → PLOP → POOP
8. AHEM → THEM → TEEM → TEED → PEED → PEEP → PREP → PROP → 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

AHEM has 1 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). Only one first move keeps you on par: THEM. Every other legal move costs at least a guess.

How #394 compares

Par 8 puts #394 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 #394 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #394

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.