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POOPLE #144 · 5 Jan 2026

MULE to POOP.

A little help for this word ladder. Open only the hints you need.

5shortest moves
3shortest paths
Easyour distance-based rating
01A gentle nudgeJust the shortest length. No words revealed.
You can get from MULE to POOP in 5 moves. That means 6 words, including the start.
02A little more directionFind out which letter to change first.
One shortest route starts by changing letter 2. You do not have to match a letter in POOP on every move.
03Your first stepping stoneReveal the first word of a shortest route.
Try MOLE. From there, you have 4 moves left.MOLE
04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

MULE · MOLE · POLE · POLL · POOL · POOP

  1. StartMULEYour starting word
  2. Move 1MOLEU — O · letter 2
  3. Move 2POLEM — P · letter 1
  4. Move 3POLLE — L · letter 4
  5. Move 4POOLL — O · letter 3
  6. Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4

3 shortest paths in the checked word list. View the full explanation

Every step, explained.

Full solution below. Stop here if you want to keep solving.

  1. StartMULEYour starting word
  2. Move 1MOLEU — O · letter 2
  3. Move 2POLEM — P · letter 1
  4. Move 3POLLE — L · letter 4
  5. Move 4POOLL — O · letter 3
  6. Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4
All 3 equivalent shortest paths
  1. MULE · MOLE · POLE · POLL · POOL · POOP
  2. MULE · MOLE · POLE · POME · POMP · POOP
  3. MULE · MULL · PULL · POLL · POOL · POOP

Choices at every step

Legal choices change one letter. Shortest-route choices also reduce the remaining distance by one; the counts below refer to the route shown above.

WordLegal choicesOn a shortest routeNext words on a shortest route
MULE82MOLE, MULL
MOLE181POLE
POLE182POLL, POME
POLL121POOL
POOL81POOP

Historical entry reconstructed from the official schedule available on 10 Nov 2026. Source and verification details.