POOPLE #396 · 14 Sep 2026

Poople #396 Answer — CARS to POOP in 5 Moves

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

5shortest moves

10shortest paths

Easyour distance-based rating

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

You can get from CARS 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 CABS. From there, you have 4 moves left.CABS

04The full answerReady? Reveal every step to POOP.

CARS · CABS · COBS · COOS · COOP · POOP

StartCARSYour starting word
Move 1CABSR — B · letter 3
Move 2COBSA — O · letter 2
Move 3COOSB — O · letter 3
Move 4COOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPC — P · letter 1

10 shortest paths in the checked word list.

Every step, explained.

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

StartCARSYour starting word
Move 1CABSR — B · letter 3
Move 2COBSA — O · letter 2
Move 3COOSB — O · letter 3
Move 4COOPS — P · letter 4
Move 5POOPC — P · letter 1

All 10 equivalent shortest paths

CARS · CABS · COBS · COOS · COOP · POOP
CARS · CADS · CODS · COOS · COOP · POOP
CARS · CAMS · CAMP · COMP · COOP · POOP
CARS · CAMS · CAMP · COMP · POMP · POOP
CARS · CANS · CONS · COOS · COOP · POOP
CARS · CAPS · COPS · COOS · COOP · POOP
CARS · CARP · CAMP · COMP · COOP · POOP
CARS · CARP · CAMP · COMP · POMP · POOP
CARS · CATS · COTS · COOS · COOP · POOP
CARS · CAWS · COWS · COOS · COOP · 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
CARS	23	8	CABS, CADS, CAMS, CANS, CAPS, CARP, CATS, CAWS
CABS	15	1	COBS
COBS	19	1	COOS
COOS	15	1	COOP
COOP	14	1	POOP

THE FIRST STEP

8 ways to move closer.

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

CABS, CADS, CAMS, CANS, CAPS, CARP, CATS, CAWS

What about the other moves?

BARS (5 remaining); CARB (5 remaining); CARD (5 remaining); CARE (5 remaining); CART (5 remaining); CURS (5 remaining); EARS (5 remaining); GARS (6 remaining); JARS (6 remaining); MARS (6 remaining); OARS (6 remaining); PARS (5 remaining); SARS (6 remaining); TARS (6 remaining); WARS (6 remaining).

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

Try a different position

Why this is a shortest path

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

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