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Word ladder solver / DISH
STARTING-WORD GUIDE

DISH to POOP.

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

6minimum moves
6shortest routes
Moderatedistance-based rating

A shortest path from DISH.

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

  1. StartDISHThe starting word; no move used
  2. Move 1DOSHReplace I with O in position 2
  3. Move 2COSHReplace D with C in position 1
  4. Move 3COSTReplace H with T in position 4
  5. Move 4COOTReplace S with O in position 3
  6. Move 5COOPReplace T with P in position 4
  7. Move 6POOPReplace C with P in position 1
Compare 6 shortest routes
  1. DISH · DOSH · COSH · COST · COOT · COOP · POOP
  2. DISH · DOSH · DOSE · DOME · POME · POMP · POOP
  3. DISH · DOSH · DOSE · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP
  4. DISH · DOSH · POSH · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP
  5. DISH · PISH · POSH · POSE · POME · POMP · POOP
  6. DISH · WISH · WISP · WIMP · PIMP · POMP · POOP

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

Which first moves work?

3 next words keep you on a shortest route from DISH: DOSH, PISH, WISH.

The table lists all 8 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
DASH67Longer route
DISC78Longer route
DISK67Longer route
DISS67Longer route
DOSH56Shortest route
FISH67Longer route
PISH56Shortest route
WISH56Shortest route

Why 6 moves is the minimum.

DISH 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 DISH 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.