Poople #445 Answer: PANG to POOP in 6 Moves

Poople #445 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

PANG has five first moves that preserve the six-move minimum: BANG, HANG, PANE, PANS and PONG. The selected route takes PANE, then changes positions three, two, four, three and four on its way to POOP.

The fact pack counts 13 shortest routes, while the page displays a sample of 12. That sample includes BANG branches through BANK or BONG, HANG via HANK, PANS through CANS, PALS or PONS, and the selected PANE → PALE branch; every listed route takes six moves.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

Showing 12 of 13 shortest routes; the full set is larger.

1. PANG → BANG → BANK → BONK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
2. PANG → BANG → BONG → BONK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
3. PANG → HANG → HANK → HONK → HOOK → HOOP → POOP
4. PANG → PANE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP
5. PANG → PANE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP Selected reference route
6. PANG → PANE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP
7. PANG → PANE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP
8. PANG → PANS → CANS → CONS → COOS → COOP → POOP
9. PANG → PANS → PALS → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP
10. PANG → PANS → PONS → CONS → COOS → COOP → POOP
11. PANG → PONG → BONG → BONK → BOOK → BOOP → POOP
12. PANG → PONG → PONS → CONS → COOS → COOP → POOP

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of PANG in this checked list: BANG (keeps par) · DANG (adds at least one move) · FANG (adds at least one move) · GANG (adds at least one move) · HANG (keeps par) · PANE (keeps par) · PANS (keeps par) · PANT (adds at least one move) · PING (adds at least one move) · PONG (keeps par) · RANG (adds at least one move) · SANG (adds at least one move) · TANG (adds at least one move) · YANG (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 November 2, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.