POOPLE ANSWERS

JULY 8, 2026 ยท PUZZLE #328

QUIT to POOP.

One shortest route in 6 moves.

00
QUIT
START
01
SUIT
LETTER 1
02
SLIT
LETTER 2
03
SLIP
LETTER 4
04
SLOP
LETTER 3
05
PLOP
LETTER 1
06
POOP
GOAL

Why this route takes 6 moves

QUIT and POOP differ in 4 letter positions. The shortest accepted-word route needs 2 additional moves; the first and second letters change more than once.

Start by changing the first letter: QUIT โ†’ SUIT. Near the goal, PLOP is one letter from POOP; the last move changes its second letter.

Every letter change

  1. QUIT โ†’ SUIT: change letter 1 from Q to S.
  2. SUIT โ†’ SLIT: change letter 2 from U to L.
  3. SLIT โ†’ SLIP: change letter 4 from T to P.
  4. SLIP โ†’ SLOP: change letter 3 from I to O.
  5. SLOP โ†’ PLOP: change letter 1 from S to P.
  6. PLOP โ†’ POOP: change letter 2 from L to O.