poople.
← Back to today’s gamePUZZLE #177 · FEB 7, 2026

ETCH to POOP.

9 moves. 64 equally short routes. Here is one way through.

  1. STARTetchYour starting word
  2. 01eachT → A
  3. 02machE → M
  4. 03maceH → E
  5. 04laceM → L
  6. 05lackE → K
  7. 06lockA → O
  8. 07lookC → O
  9. 08loopK → P
  10. 09poopL → P · Made it!

The first move matters.

ETCH has 2 valid one-letter neighbors in this dictionary. 1 of them can begin a shortest path:

EACH

Each of these leaves 8 moves to POOP. The other 1 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 (64 total)

Showing 20 of 64 paths.

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → LACE → LACK → LOCK → LOOK → LOOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MALE → MALL → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MALE → MOLE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MALE → MOLE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MALE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MALE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MALE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MARE → MORE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → MARE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → PACE → PALE → PALL → POLL → POOL → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → PACE → PALE → POLE → POLL → POOL → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → PACE → PALE → POLE → POME → POMP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MACE → PACE → PARE → PORE → POME → POMP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → BASH → BASS → BOSS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → CASH → CAST → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → CASH → COSH → COST → COOT → COOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → LASH → LAST → LOST → LOOT → LOOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → MASS → BASS → BOSS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → MASS → MOSS → BOSS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

ETCH → EACH → MACH → MASH → MASS → MOSS → MOOS → BOOS → BOOP → POOP

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