← Back to today’s gamePUZZLE #159 · JAN 20, 2026

HAVE to POOP.

6 moves. 24 equally short routes. Here is one way through.

  1. STARThaveYour starting word
  2. 01caveH → C
  3. 02cameV → M
  4. 03campE → P
  5. 04compA → O
  6. 05coopM → O
  7. 06poopC → P · Made it!

The first move matters.

HAVE has 15 valid one-letter neighbors in this dictionary. 5 of them can begin a shortest path:

CAVEHALEHAREPAVESAVE

Each of these leaves 5 moves to POOP. The other 10 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 (24 total)

Showing 20 of 24 paths.

HAVE → CAVE → CAME → CAMP → COMP → COOP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → CAME → CAMP → COMP → POMP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → CAME → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → CAME → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → CAME → COME → POME → POMP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → COVE → COME → COMP → COOP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → COVE → COME → COMP → POMP → POOP

HAVE → CAVE → COVE → COME → POME → POMP → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HALL → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HALT → HOLT → HOOT → HOOP → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HOLE → HOLD → HOOD → HOOP → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HOLE → HOLT → HOOT → HOOP → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HOLE → HOME → POME → POMP → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HOLE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

HAVE → HALE → HOLE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

HAVE → HALE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

HAVE → HALE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

HAVE → HALE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

HAVE → HARE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP

HAVE → PAVE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP