Poople answer archive

Poople #401 answer: FANS to POOP in 5 guesses (September 20, 2026)

The Poople puzzle for September 20, 2026 starts from FANS. The shortest ladder to POOP takes 5 guesses, and there is only one shortest route. Here is it, 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 #401 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 FANS

There is exactly one way to reach POOP in 5 guesses from FANS, so a par solve means finding this precise sequence:

1. FANS → CANS → CONS → COOS → COOP → POOP

First moves: which keep par and which don't

FANS has 12 legal neighbours in the original word list (change one letter, still a word). Only one first move keeps you on par: CANS. Every other legal move costs at least a guess. Moves that cost exactly one extra guess: BANS, FADS, FATS, PANS, SANS, TANS, VANS. Moves that cost two or more: FANG, FENS, FINS, FUNS.

How #401 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 #401 yourself

Same starting word, same word list as the original, with undo and hints. Replays don't touch your streak. Play #401

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.