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Word ladder solver / ALPS
STARTING-WORD GUIDE

ALPS to POOP.

A reusable word-ladder guide, rather than a dated daily puzzle. Every move below changes exactly one letter.

8minimum moves
6shortest routes
Harddistance-based rating

A shortest path from ALPS.

ALPS reaches POOP in 8 moves. The list includes 9 words because the starting position costs no move.

  1. StartALPSThe starting word; no move used
  2. Move 1ALMSReplace P with M in position 3
  3. Move 2AIMSReplace L with I in position 2
  4. Move 3AIDSReplace M with D in position 3
  5. Move 4BIDSReplace A with B in position 1
  6. Move 5BODSReplace I with O in position 2
  7. Move 6BOOSReplace D with O in position 3
  8. Move 7BOOPReplace S with P in position 4
  9. Move 8POOPReplace B with P in position 1
Compare 6 shortest routes
  1. ALPS · ALMS · AIMS · AIDS · BIDS · BODS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
  2. ALPS · ALMS · AIMS · DIMS · DIME · DOME · POME · POMP · POOP
  3. ALPS · ALMS · AIMS · DIMS · DOMS · DOME · POME · POMP · POOP
  4. ALPS · ALMS · AIMS · RIMS · RAMS · RAMP · ROMP · POMP · POOP
  5. ALPS · ALMS · AIMS · RIMS · RUMS · RUMP · PUMP · POMP · POOP
  6. ALPS · ALMS · AIMS · RIMS · RUMS · RUMP · ROMP · POMP · POOP

This list contains every shortest route in the checked word list.

Which first moves work?

One next word keeps you on a shortest route from ALPS: ALMS.

The table lists all 7 accepted one-letter neighbors. “Moves remaining” starts after that first move. “Total via this word” includes it, so you can compare that choice with the 8-move minimum.

Next wordMoves remainingTotal via this wordResult
ALAS89Longer route
ALBS89Longer route
ALES89Longer route
ALMS78Shortest route
AMPS910Longer route
APPS89Longer route
ASPS910Longer route

Why 8 moves is the minimum.

ALPS differs from POOP in 4 letter positions, so any route needs at least 4 changes. The accepted intermediate words require a longer route: the first complete connection in our search occurs at 8 moves.

The solver searches the checked word graph in distance order. It reaches every word one move away before trying two moves, then continues until it reaches POOP. The minimum applies to this word list; another game or dictionary may accept different connections.

Our Hard label uses distance only: up to 5 moves is Easy, 6 is Moderate, 7 is Tricky, 8 is Hard, and 9 or more is Expert. It does not measure how familiar you will find each word.

Try ALPS with a different target or read the verification method.

More 8-move ladders.

These starting words have the same shortest distance to POOP in the checked list.