Poople #2892026-05-30

Poople #289: GRAY to POOP

The shortest 5-step ladder from GRAY to POOP, plus the full solution and a replay of puzzle #289.

Play Poople #289

#289 GRAY

G
R
A
Y
start

Poople #289 answer: GRAY to POOP

Hidden

Answer path

gray
cray
crap
crop
prop
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 GRAY.

Moves
5
Difficulty
Hard
Shortest paths
9

The dictionary has 9 equally short routes; the route below is one of them.

  1. Move 1: GRAYCRAY — change the 1st letter from G to C.
  2. Move 2: CRAYCRAP — change the 4th letter from Y to P.
  3. Move 3: CRAPCROP — change the 3rd letter from A to O.
  4. Move 4: CROPPROP — change the 1st letter from C to P.
  5. Move 5: PROPPOOP — change the 2nd letter from R to O.

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

Poople #289 Answer for 2026-05-30 — GRAY to POOP