POOPLE #294 · 4 Jun 2026
NAIL 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 NAIL 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 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 FAIL. From there, you have 4 moves left.FAIL
04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.
NAIL · FAIL · FOIL · FOOL · POOL · POOP
- StartNAILYour starting word
- Move 1FAILN — F · letter 1
- Move 2FOILA — O · letter 2
- Move 3FOOLI — O · letter 3
- Move 4POOLF — P · letter 1
- 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.
- StartNAILYour starting word
- Move 1FAILN — F · letter 1
- Move 2FOILA — O · letter 2
- Move 3FOOLI — O · letter 3
- Move 4POOLF — P · letter 1
- Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4
All 3 equivalent shortest paths
- NAIL · FAIL · FOIL · FOOL · POOL · POOP
- NAIL · PAIL · PALL · POLL · POOL · POOP
- NAIL · TAIL · TOIL · TOOL · 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.
| Word | Legal choices | On a shortest route | Next words on a shortest route |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAIL | 10 | 3 | FAIL, PAIL, TAIL |
| FAIL | 14 | 1 | FOIL |
| FOIL | 10 | 1 | FOOL |
| FOOL | 10 | 1 | POOL |
| POOL | 8 | 1 | POOP |
Historical entry reconstructed from the official schedule available on 10 Nov 2026. Source and verification details.