Poople #437 Answer: CASE to POOP in 5 Moves

Poople #437 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

CASE has two first moves that keep a five-move finish: CAME and CAST. The selected route uses CAME → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP.

Five of the six shortest routes start with CAME, with endings through either COOP or POMP. The lone CAST route runs CAST → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

All 6 shortest routes are shown below.

1. CASE → CAME → CAMP → COMP → COOP → POOP
2. CASE → CAME → CAMP → COMP → POMP → POOP
3. CASE → CAME → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP Selected reference route
4. CASE → CAME → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP
5. CASE → CAME → COME → POME → POMP → POOP
6. CASE → CAST → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of CASE in this checked list: BASE (adds at least one move) · CAFE (adds at least one move) · CAGE (adds at least one move) · CAKE (adds at least one move) · CAME (keeps par) · CANE (adds at least one move) · CAPE (adds at least one move) · CARE (adds at least one move) · CASH (adds at least one move) · CASK (adds at least one move) · CAST (keeps par) · CAVE (adds at least one move) · EASE (adds at least one move) · RASE (adds at least one move) · VASE (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 25, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.