JANUARY 31, 2026 · PUZZLE #170
SAVE to POOP.💩
One shortest route in 5 moves.
00
SAVE
START01
SAME
LETTER 302
SOME
LETTER 203
POME
LETTER 104
POMP
LETTER 405
POOP
GOAL 💩Why this route takes 5 moves
SAVE and POOP differ in 4 letter positions. The shortest accepted-word route needs 1 additional move; the third letter changes more than once.
Start by changing the third letter: SAVE → SAME. Near the goal, POMP is one letter from POOP; the last move changes its third letter.
Every letter change
- SAVE → SAME: change letter 3 from V to M.
- SAME → SOME: change letter 2 from A to O.
- SOME → POME: change letter 1 from S to P.
- POME → POMP: change letter 4 from E to P.
- POMP → POOP: change letter 3 from M to O.
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