Poople Answer — #430, October 18, 2026

October 18, 2026 · #430: GIVE to POOP

GIVE begins with all four positions different from POOP. This checked six-move solution uses several temporary letters instead of replacing each position just once. G becomes D before becoming P, and V becomes M before the third position finally becomes O. The final E also waits until late in the route to change. That makes this a puzzle where a word that still looks far from POOP can be doing useful work. Judge each move by whether it gives you a playable next word.

The first change is GIVE to DIVE, replacing G with D while leaving IVE alone. DIVE then becomes DOVE by changing I to O in the second position. That second O is the first letter placed in its final target position. It stays there for the rest of the displayed ladder. The spelling contrast between DIVE and DOVE is small, so check the second letter rather than reading only the overall shape. Both the initial D and the ending VE remain fixed during that change.

DOVE to DOME replaces the third letter V with M. M is temporary, but it allows DOME to become POME with a single change at the front. The sequence therefore handles the third position before bringing in the target’s first P. POME may be less familiar than the earlier words; use the exact four-letter spelling shown. Moving from DOVE directly to POME would replace both the first and third letters. Retaining DOME as a separate stop keeps those changes apart and makes every arrow legal.

POME becomes POMP by changing the last letter from E to P. You now have both outer Ps and the second O in their final positions. The last step replaces the third M with O to make POOP. This is the second change to that third position, completing the detour through M that began at DOVE. Seven words make six moves. Count the arrow into DIVE as move one and the arrow into POOP as move six; the supplied starting word GIVE is not an additional move.

When revisiting this date, focus on the repeated O in the second position: once DOVE appears, that letter stays fixed. The harder decisions concern the first and third letters, which pass through D and M before reaching their final values. Hide the solution and try rebuilding around that stable second letter. This route is six moves long and no shorter route passes the accepted-word check. A different six-move ladder may exist; the claim is about minimum length, not that every player must use precisely these intermediate words.

The ending E survives through POME, which is later than you might expect when looking at the target. Keeping it allows the front to settle first. The route then finishes the ending before the third position, reversing the order in which those positions were prepared. This is why writing each change beneath its column can be more useful than guessing by pronunciation.