Poople #433 Answer: VEAL to POOP in 6 Moves

Poople #433 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

VEAL has three first moves that preserve the six-move minimum in this checked list: DEAL, PEAL and TEAL. The selected route follows DEAL → DELL → DOLL → POLL → POOL → POOP.

The six shortest routes reach POOP from three different penultimate words: POOL, PLOP and PROP. A PEAL opening can lead to PLOP or PROP, while every TEAL opening reaches POOL.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

All 6 shortest routes are shown below.

1. VEAL → DEAL → DELL → DOLL → POLL → POOL → POOP Selected reference route
2. VEAL → PEAL → PEAT → PLAT → PLAP → PLOP → POOP
3. VEAL → PEAL → PEAT → PLAT → PLOT → PLOP → POOP
4. VEAL → PEAL → PEEL → PEEP → PREP → PROP → POOP
5. VEAL → TEAL → TELL → TOLL → POLL → POOL → POOP
6. VEAL → TEAL → TELL → TOLL → TOOL → POOL → POOP

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of VEAL in this checked list: DEAL (keeps par) · HEAL (adds at least one move) · MEAL (adds at least one move) · PEAL (keeps par) · REAL (adds at least one move) · SEAL (adds at least one move) · TEAL (keeps par) · VEIL (adds at least one move) · VIAL (adds at least one move) · WEAL (adds at least one move) · ZEAL (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 21, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.