Poople #424 Answer: WAVY to POOP in 7 Moves

Poople #424 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

WAVY has two first moves that preserve the seven-move minimum: WARY and WAVE. The selected route takes WAVE, then changes the first letter to reach CAVE. NAVY and WAXY are accepted neighbours, but neither moves closer to POOP.

The route uses a different letter position on each of its first four moves: WAVY → WAVE changes position four, WAVE → CAVE position one, CAVE → CAME position three, and CAME → COME position two. There are 36 shortest routes in this checked list, so the displayed route is one of many valid seven-move solutions.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

Showing 12 of 36 shortest routes; the full set is larger.

1. WAVY → WARY → WARD → WORD → WOOD → GOOD → GOOP → POOP
2. WAVY → WARY → WARD → WORD → WOOD → HOOD → HOOP → POOP
3. WAVY → WARY → WARD → WORD → WOOD → WOOF → POOF → POOP
4. WAVY → WARY → WARD → WORD → WOOD → WOOL → POOL → POOP
5. WAVY → WARY → WARE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP
6. WAVY → WARY → WARE → WORE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP
7. WAVY → WARY → WARN → BARN → BORN → BOON → BOOP → POOP
8. WAVY → WARY → WARN → WORN → BORN → BOON → BOOP → POOP
9. WAVY → WARY → WARP → CARP → CAMP → COMP → COOP → POOP
10. WAVY → WARY → WARP → CARP → CAMP → COMP → POMP → POOP
11. WAVY → WAVE → CAVE → CAME → CAMP → COMP → COOP → POOP
12. WAVY → WAVE → CAVE → CAME → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP Selected reference route

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of WAVY in this checked list: NAVY (adds at least one move) · WARY (keeps par) · WAVE (keeps par) · WAXY (adds at least one move).

A first move keeps the 7-move minimum only when its remaining distance is 6.

Choices along the selected route

Each listed next word keeps a shortest finish from that point. These are the branch points encountered on the selected reference route.

How this answer was checked

This route was saved during its daily verification run. The 2398-word list was checked on October 12, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.