POOPLE #168 · 29 Jan 2026

PINE to POOP.

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

5shortest moves

5shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

01A gentle nudgeJust the shortest length. No words revealed.

You can get from PINE 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 3. 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 PIKE. From there, you have 4 moves left.PIKE

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

PINE · PIKE · POKE · POME · POMP · POOP

StartPINEYour starting word
Move 1PIKEN — K · letter 3
Move 2POKEI — O · letter 2
Move 3POMEK — M · letter 3
Move 4POMPE — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPM — O · letter 3

5 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.

StartPINEYour starting word
Move 1PIKEN — K · letter 3
Move 2POKEI — O · letter 2
Move 3POMEK — M · letter 3
Move 4POMPE — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPM — O · letter 3

All 5 equivalent shortest paths

PINE · PIKE · POKE · POME · POMP · POOP
PINE · PILE · PILL · POLL · POOL · POOP
PINE · PILE · POLE · POLL · POOL · POOP
PINE · PILE · POLE · POME · POMP · POOP
PINE · PIPE · POPE · POME · POMP · 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.

Word	Legal choices	On a shortest route	Next words on a shortest route
PINE	20	3	PIKE, PILE, PIPE
PIKE	10	1	POKE
POKE	12	1	POME
POME	11	1	POMP
POMP	6	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

3 ways to move closer.

From PINE, these words reduce the remaining shortest distance by one:

PIKE, PILE, PIPE

What about the other moves?

DINE (5 remaining); FINE (6 remaining); KINE (6 remaining); LINE (5 remaining); MINE (6 remaining); NINE (6 remaining); PANE (5 remaining); PINA (6 remaining); PING (6 remaining); PINK (6 remaining); PINS (5 remaining); PINT (6 remaining); SINE (6 remaining); TINE (5 remaining); VINE (6 remaining); WINE (6 remaining); ZINE (6 remaining).

These moves are valid, but do not lie on a shortest route from PINE.

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

Our solver searches the checked word list one move at a time. PINE first reaches POOP at distance 5; no shorter route exists in that list.

Difficulty here is based only on move count: up to 5 is Easy, 6 is Moderate, 7 is Tricky, 8 is Hard, and 9 or more is Expert.

How we check answers

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