← Back to today’s gamePUZZLE #120 · DEC 12, 2025

HATE to POOP.

6 moves. 22 equally short routes. Here is one way through.

  1. STARThateYour starting word
  2. 01dateH → D
  3. 02dameT → M
  4. 03domeA → O
  5. 04pomeD → P
  6. 05pompE → P
  7. 06poopM → O · Made it!

The first move matters.

HATE has 13 valid one-letter neighbors in this dictionary. 6 of them can begin a shortest path:

DATEHALEHAREHATSPATESATE

Each of these leaves 5 moves to POOP. The other 7 neighbors are valid moves too, but cannot reach the target in the minimum from this starting word.

Follow the changes

The highlighted letter beside each step shows exactly which position changed. This historical solution uses the original puzzle’s dictionary and minimum move count. Other shortest routes can take different intermediate words.

Explore more past puzzles →
Explore shortest alternatives (22 total)

Showing 20 of 22 paths.

HATE → DATE → DAME → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP

HATE → DATE → DOTE → DOME → POME → POMP → POOP

HATE → HALE → HALL → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

HATE → HALE → HALT → HOLT → HOOT → HOOP → POOP

HATE → HALE → HOLE → HOLD → HOOD → HOOP → POOP

HATE → HALE → HOLE → HOLT → HOOT → HOOP → POOP

HATE → HALE → HOLE → HOME → POME → POMP → POOP

HATE → HALE → HOLE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

HATE → HALE → HOLE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

HATE → HALE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

HATE → HALE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

HATE → HALE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

HATE → HARE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP

HATE → HATS → BATS → BOTS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

HATE → HATS → CATS → COTS → COOS → COOP → POOP

HATE → HATS → HOTS → BOTS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

HATE → HATS → HOTS → COTS → COOS → COOP → POOP

HATE → PATE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

HATE → PATE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

HATE → PATE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP