Poople #431 Answer: PEST to POOP in 5 Moves

Poople #431 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

PEST has 18 accepted one-letter neighbours in this checked list, but only HEST, LEST, PEAT and POST preserve the five-move minimum. The selected route starts with POST, which offers five shortest next steps: COST, HOST, LOST, POSE and POUT.

The nine shortest routes approach POOP through six distinct penultimate words: COOP, HOOP, LOOP, PLOP, POMP and POOR. The selected route changes each of the four letter positions once in its first four moves, then revisits position one on the final move.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

All 9 shortest routes are shown below.

1. PEST → HEST → HOST → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
2. PEST → LEST → LOST → LOOT → LOOP → POOP
3. PEST → PEAT → PLAT → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
4. PEST → PEAT → PLAT → PLOT → PLOP → POOP
5. PEST → POST → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP
6. PEST → POST → HOST → HOOT → HOOP → POOP
7. PEST → POST → LOST → LOOT → LOOP → POOP Selected reference route
8. PEST → POST → POSE → POME → POMP → POOP
9. PEST → POST → POUT → POUR → POOR → POOP

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of PEST in this checked list: BEST (adds at least one move) · FEST (adds at least one move) · HEST (keeps par) · JEST (adds at least one move) · LEST (keeps par) · NEST (adds at least one move) · PAST (adds at least one move) · PEAT (keeps par) · PELT (adds at least one move) · PENT (adds at least one move) · PERT (adds at least one move) · PESO (adds at least one move) · POST (keeps par) · REST (adds at least one move) · TEST (adds at least one move) · VEST (adds at least one move) · WEST (adds at least one move) · ZEST (adds at least one move).

A first move keeps the 5-move minimum only when its remaining distance is 4.

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 19, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.