Poople #447 Answer: REPS to POOP in 6 Moves

Poople #447 at a glance

What makes this puzzle distinctive

REPS has nine one-letter neighbours in the saved checked list, but only PEPS, RAPS, REDS and REGS preserve the six-move minimum. The selected route takes RAPS → CAPS; RAMS is another shortest second step from RAPS.

The ten shortest routes approach POOP through four different penultimate words: BOOP, COOP, POMP and PROP. The selected route follows COPS → COOS → COOP → POOP, while the PEPS → PEES branch reaches POOP through PROP.

Step-by-step shortest route

Shortest routes

All 10 shortest routes are shown below.

1. REPS → PEPS → PEES → PEEP → PREP → PROP → POOP
2. REPS → PEPS → POPS → BOPS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
3. REPS → PEPS → POPS → COPS → COOS → COOP → POOP
4. REPS → PEPS → POPS → POPE → POME → POMP → POOP
5. REPS → RAPS → CAPS → COPS → COOS → COOP → POOP Selected reference route
6. REPS → RAPS → RAMS → RAMP → ROMP → POMP → POOP
7. REPS → REDS → BEDS → BODS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
8. REPS → REDS → RODS → BODS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP
9. REPS → REDS → RODS → CODS → COOS → COOP → POOP
10. REPS → REGS → BEGS → BOGS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

First-move choices

One-letter neighbours of REPS in this checked list: PEPS (keeps par) · RAPS (keeps par) · RECS (adds at least one move) · REDS (keeps par) · REFS (adds at least one move) · REGS (keeps par) · REPO (adds at least one move) · REVS (adds at least one move) · RIPS (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 4, 2026. We verified every displayed transition, the shortest length and the route count against that list.