Poople #1572026-01-18

Poople #157: ROTE to POOP

The shortest 5-step ladder from ROTE to POOP, plus the full solution and a replay of puzzle #157.

Play Poople #157

#157 ROTE

R
O
T
E
start

Poople #157 answer: ROTE to POOP

Hidden

Answer path

rote
cote
come
pome
pomp
poop
5 movesHardFirst hint: change the 1st letter.

Path analysis

This route reaches POOP in 5 moves. Breadth-first search reaches every route with fewer moves first, so POOP cannot be reached in fewer than 5 moves from ROTE.

Moves
5
Difficulty
Hard
Shortest paths
13

The dictionary has 13 equally short routes; the route below is one of them.

  1. Move 1: ROTECOTE — change the 1st letter from R to C.
  2. Move 2: COTECOME — change the 3rd letter from T to M.
  3. Move 3: COMEPOME — change the 1st letter from C to P.
  4. Move 4: POMEPOMP — change the 4th letter from E to P.
  5. Move 5: POMPPOOP — change the 3rd letter from M to O.

This Poople puzzle starts from ROTE and reaches POOP by changing one letter at a time. The shortest known path takes 5 moves.

Poople #157 Answer for 2026-01-18 — ROTE to POOP