Poople answer archive

Poople #400 answer: CARE to POOP in 5 guesses (September 19, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 19, 2026 starts from CARE. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 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 #400 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 CARE

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

1. CARE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP
2. CARE → CORE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP
3. CARE → CORE → COME → POME → POMP → POOP
4. CARE → CORE → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP
5. CARE → CORE → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP
6. CARE → CORE → CORK → COOK → COOP → POOP
7. CARE → CAME → COME → POME → POMP → POOP
8. CARE → CAME → COME → COMP → POMP → 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

CARE has 24 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). 4 of the 24 legal first moves keep you on par: CAME, CARP, CORE, PARE. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: BARE, CAFE, CAGE, CAKE, CANE, CAPE, CARB, CARD, CARS, CART, CASE, CAVE, CURE, DARE, FARE, HARE, MARE, RARE, TARE, WARE.

How #400 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 #400 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #400

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.