PEST to POOP, step by step
Confirm that your puzzle starts at PEST. If you are playing a different day, use the current answer page to check its status.
Reveal the 5-move solution Full spoiler
PEST → POST → HOST → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
6 words. 5 changes. A shortest route in the checked official word list; equally short alternatives may exist.
PEST → POST— position 2, E to O. POST can mean an upright support or mail.POST → HOST— position 1, P to H. A HOST welcomes guests. A target-matching letter can change temporarily.HOST → HOOT— position 3, S to O. A HOOT is a sound associated with an owl.HOOT → HOOP— position 4, T to P. A HOOP is a ring.HOOP → POOP— position 1, H to P. The target is reached in five moves.
Why this route works
This checked route solves Poople #431, the puzzle that began at 08:00 UTC on October 19, 2026. Confirm that the official game starts with PEST before using it. The chain uses six words and five changes; the opening word does not count as a move. First, replace E with O to turn PEST into POST. POST can refer to an upright support or an item of mail. Next, change P to H for HOST, a person who welcomes guests. Change the third letter from S to O to form HOOT, the sound associated with an owl. Replace the final T with P to get HOOP, a ring. Finally, change the first letter from H back to P to reach POOP. Notice that the route temporarily changes the starting P even though P already matches the target. Keeping every matching letter fixed is not a rule of the game and can prevent you from finding a useful connection. Each step here changes exactly one position, and every word is in the official accepted-word snapshot checked for this record. The official distance table and an independent breadth-first search both give a five-move minimum for PEST in that snapshot. This demonstrates that the route is shortest within that source; it does not mean it is the only shortest route. Our separate solver uses a different, independently licensed dictionary, so its move count or intermediate words can differ. Do not substitute a solver route for this official-snapshot result without checking whether the original game accepts its words. If your game rejects one of these steps, check the immediately preceding word and spelling, then report the exact pair so we can recheck the source.
A useful lesson from this puzzle
A letter that already matches the target may still need to change temporarily. Reaching POOP requires a chain of accepted words, so counting matching letters alone cannot prove how many moves remain. Open the solution above for a worked explanation of this puzzle.
Evidence and shortest-path scope
We checked the public official game implementation on . Its accepted-word distance table and an independent breadth-first search both give a minimum of 5 moves for PEST. This is a source and algorithm check; we did not replay the route through the official game interface.
The source snapshot identifies this as puzzle #431. A later change to the original dictionary could alter which words are accepted. The independent solver uses a different word list, so its shortest distance can differ.
- Official Poople game — checked 2026-10-20.
- Official public game implementation — checked 2026-10-20.
Corrections are recorded here when a published result changes. No corrections have been recorded for this revision. See our editorial policy or report a rejected step.