POOPLE #339 · 19 Jul 2026

TEAL to POOP.

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

5shortest moves

2shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

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

You can get from TEAL 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 TELL. From there, you have 4 moves left.TELL

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

TEAL · TELL · TOLL · POLL · POOL · POOP

StartTEALYour starting word
Move 1TELLA — L · letter 3
Move 2TOLLE — O · letter 2
Move 3POLLT — P · letter 1
Move 4POOLL — O · letter 3
Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4

2 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.

StartTEALYour starting word
Move 1TELLA — L · letter 3
Move 2TOLLE — O · letter 2
Move 3POLLT — P · letter 1
Move 4POOLL — O · letter 3
Move 5POOPL — P · letter 4

All 2 equivalent shortest paths

TEAL · TELL · TOLL · POLL · POOL · POOP
TEAL · TELL · TOLL · 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
TEAL	15	1	TELL
TELL	12	1	TOLL
TOLL	12	2	POLL, TOOL
POLL	12	1	POOL
POOL	8	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

One way to move closer.

From TEAL, this word reduces the remaining shortest distance by one:

TELL

What about the other moves?

DEAL (5 remaining); HEAL (6 remaining); MEAL (6 remaining); PEAL (5 remaining); REAL (6 remaining); SEAL (6 remaining); TEAK (6 remaining); TEAM (5 remaining); TEAR (5 remaining); TEAS (6 remaining); TEAT (5 remaining); VEAL (6 remaining); WEAL (6 remaining); ZEAL (6 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

Our solver searches the checked word list one move at a time. TEAL 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.