Poople #442 Answer: FUSS to POOP in 6 Moves

Poople #442 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

FUSS has nine accepted one-letter neighbours, but only CUSS, MUSS and SUSS preserve the six-move minimum. The selected route begins MUSS and then changes positions two, three and four in succession: MUSS → MOSS → MOOS → MOOR.

The eight shortest routes split across three first moves and several middle branches. CUSS opens three routes through CUBS, CUPS or CUTS; the MUSS branch can pass through BOSS or MOOS, while the SUSS route goes via SUMS and SUMP. All eight listed routes reach POOP in six moves.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

All 8 shortest routes are shown below.

1. FUSS → CUSS → CUBS → COBS → COOS → COOP → POOP
2. FUSS → CUSS → CUPS → COPS → COOS → COOP → POOP
3. FUSS → CUSS → CUTS → COTS → COOS → COOP → POOP
4. FUSS → MUSS → MOSS → BOSS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
5. FUSS → MUSS → MOSS → MOOS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
6. FUSS → MUSS → MOSS → MOOS → COOS → COOP → POOP
7. FUSS → MUSS → MOSS → MOOS → MOOR → POOR → POOP Selected reference route
8. FUSS → SUSS → SUMS → SUMP → PUMP → POMP → POOP

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of FUSS in this checked list: CUSS (keeps par) · FESS (adds at least one move) · FUNS (adds at least one move) · FURS (adds at least one move) · FUSE (adds at least one move) · MUSS (keeps par) · PUSS (adds at least one move) · SUSS (keeps par) · WUSS (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 30, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.