Poople #426 Answer: MICS to POOP in 6 Moves

Poople #426 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

MICS has six accepted one-letter neighbours in this checked list, but only MISS leaves a five-move path to POOP. The selected route then changes MISS to MOSS and MOOS before turning toward the target.

All four shortest routes begin MICS → MISS → MOSS. They diverge later: one passes through BOSS, while the selected route goes MOOS → MOOR → POOR → POOP. Each listed route still takes exactly six moves.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

All 4 shortest routes are shown below.

1. MICS → MISS → MOSS → BOSS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
2. MICS → MISS → MOSS → MOOS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
3. MICS → MISS → MOSS → MOOS → COOS → COOP → POOP
4. MICS → MISS → MOSS → MOOS → MOOR → POOR → POOP Selected reference route

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of MICS in this checked list: MICA (adds at least one move) · MICE (adds at least one move) · MISS (keeps par) · PICS (adds at least one move) · SICS (adds at least one move) · TICS (adds at least one move).

A first move keeps the 6-move minimum only when its remaining distance is 5.

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 14, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.