POOPLE #22 · 5 Sep 2025

WINK to POOP.

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

6shortest moves

21shortest paths

Moderateour distance-based rating

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

You can get from WINK to POOP in 6 moves. That means 7 words, including the start.

02A little more directionFind out which letter to change first.

One shortest route starts by changing letter 1. 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 LINK. From there, you have 5 moves left.LINK

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

WINK · LINK · LICK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP

StartWINKYour starting word
Move 1LINKW — L · letter 1
Move 2LICKN — C · letter 3
Move 3LOCKI — O · letter 2
Move 4LOOKC — O · letter 3
Move 5LOOPK — P · letter 4
Move 6POOPL — P · letter 1

21 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.

StartWINKYour starting word
Move 1LINKW — L · letter 1
Move 2LICKN — C · letter 3
Move 3LOCKI — O · letter 2
Move 4LOOKC — O · letter 3
Move 5LOOPK — P · letter 4
Move 6POOPL — P · letter 1

All 21 equivalent shortest paths

WINK · LINK · LICK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · BONK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · CONK · COOK · COOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · HONK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · MOOK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · MOOK · COOK · COOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · MOOK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · MOOK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
WINK · MINK · MONK · MOOK · MOOR · POOR · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · BONK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · CONK · COOK · COOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · HONK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · TOOK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · TOOK · COOK · COOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · TOOK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · TOOK · LOOK · LOOP · POOP
WINK · TINK · TONK · TOOK · TOOL · POOL · POOP
WINK · WANK · BANK · BONK · BOOK · BOOP · POOP
WINK · WANK · HANK · HONK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
WINK · WICK · HICK · HOCK · HOOK · HOOP · POOP
WINK · WICK · LICK · LOCK · LOOK · LOOP · 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
WINK	17	5	LINK, MINK, TINK, WANK, WICK
LINK	14	1	LICK
LICK	14	1	LOCK
LOCK	18	1	LOOK
LOOK	13	1	LOOP
LOOP	9	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

5 ways to move closer.

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

LINK, MINK, TINK, WANK, WICK

What about the other moves?

DINK (6 remaining); FINK (6 remaining); KINK (6 remaining); OINK (6 remaining); PINK (6 remaining); RINK (6 remaining); SINK (6 remaining); WIND (6 remaining); WINE (6 remaining); WING (7 remaining); WINO (7 remaining); WINS (6 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

Our solver searches the checked word list one move at a time. WINK first reaches POOP at distance 6; 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.