STARTING-WORD GUIDE

DASH to POOP.

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

6minimum moves
9shortest routes
Moderatedistance-based rating

A shortest path from DASH.

DASH reaches POOP in 6 moves. The list includes 7 words because the starting position costs no move.

  1. StartDASHThe starting word; no move used
  2. Move 1BASHReplace D with B in position 1
  3. Move 2BASSReplace H with S in position 4
  4. Move 3BOSSReplace A with O in position 2
  5. Move 4BOOSReplace S with O in position 3
  6. Move 5BOOPReplace S with P in position 4
  7. Move 6POOPReplace B with P in position 1
Compare 9 shortest routes
  1. DASH · BASH · BASS · BOSS · BOOS · BOOP · POOP
  2. DASH · CASH · CAST · COST · COOT · COOP · POOP
  3. DASH · CASH · COSH · COST · COOT · COOP · POOP
  4. DASH · DOSH · COSH · COST · COOT · COOP · POOP
  5. DASH · DOSH · DOSE · DOME · POME · POMP · POOP
  6. DASH · DOSH · DOSE · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP
  7. DASH · DOSH · POSH · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP
  8. DASH · LASH · LAST · LOST · LOOT · LOOP · POOP
  9. DASH · RASH · RASP · RAMP · ROMP · POMP · POOP

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

Which first moves work?

5 next words keep you on a shortest route from DASH: BASH, CASH, DOSH, LASH, RASH.

The table lists all 11 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 6-move minimum.

Next wordMoves remainingTotal via this wordResult
BASH56Shortest route
CASH56Shortest route
DISH67Longer route
DOSH56Shortest route
GASH67Longer route
HASH67Longer route
LASH56Shortest route
MASH67Longer route
RASH56Shortest route
SASH67Longer route
WASH67Longer route

Why 6 moves is the minimum.

DASH 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 6 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 Moderate 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 DASH with a different target or read the verification method.

More 6-move ladders.

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