Poople Answer — #428, October 16, 2026

October 16, 2026 · #428: DOJO to POOP

DOJO already has O in the second position of POOP, but its checked route still takes seven moves. That second O stays fixed throughout the solution. The other positions take several detours: D passes through M and C before reaching P, J passes through N before reaching O, and the last O passes through K before reaching P. Three initial mismatches therefore do not mean a three-move answer. Accepted words between the endpoints determine how far the ladder actually has to travel.

DOJO becomes MOJO by changing the first letter D to M. The OJO ending stays intact. Next, MOJO becomes MONO by replacing the third J with N. These two opening moves introduce letters that are not in the target, which can make the route feel unproductive if you are checking only how many letters already match POOP. They are useful because the next accepted word remains one change away. Do not swap J and N between positions; both changes happen in their original columns.

MONO to MONK replaces the last letter O with K. The middle ON remains unchanged, and the opening M is still temporary. MONK then becomes CONK by changing M to C. At this point, only the second O matches the target, just as it did at the start. The route has nevertheless moved into a different set of playable words. Skipping from MONO directly to CONK would change the first and fourth positions together. MONK separates those two changes and preserves the one-letter rule.

CONK to COOK replaces N with O in the third position. This produces the target’s OO middle without changing the final K. COOK then becomes COOP by changing that K to P. The last move changes C to P, taking COOP to POOP. The closing three moves settle the third, fourth, and first positions in that order. The full list contains eight words and seven arrows. Count the arrows to confirm seven moves; the supplied DOJO is the starting point rather than a submitted change.

This is a useful archive puzzle for practising patience with temporary letters. Hide the route and remember that the second O is a stable anchor while the other positions move around it. The early goal is to leave the JO ending behind through accepted words, rather than force an immediate OO middle. If you reach COOK, the final two moves become much easier to see. Seven is the checked minimum for this start. A word that looks closer to POOP is not automatically the start of a shorter successful ladder.

Unlike the shorter ladders in the archive, this route changes the first position three times. Each of the third and fourth positions changes twice, while the second never changes. Adding those counts gives seven without relying on the displayed arrow count. It is a second way to check your transcription and to see exactly where the longer path spends its moves.