Poople #359 Answer & Full Solution:
LAVA to POOP Word Ladder

Play this puzzle

The board opens on LAVA. Stuck? The Hint button suggests the next rung.

 

Full solution

The fastest route from LAVA to POOP takes 6 moves.

  • LAVA
  • LAMA
  • LIMA
  • LIMP
  • PIMP
  • POMP
  • POOP

About this puzzle

Puzzle number359
Date2026-08-08
Par6
Neighbor words from LAVA6
Shortest path is uniqueNo
Harder than yesterday's puzzleYes

Bridge words

WordMeaning
LAVA(noun) — melted rock from a volcano
LAMA(noun) — a Tibetan or Mongolian Buddhist monk
LIMA(noun) — the capital of Peru; a type of bean
LIMP(adjective) — lacking stiffness; to walk unevenly
PIMP(noun) — a person who procures clients for prostitutes
POMP(noun) — ceremonial display or splendor
POOP(noun) — the waste discharged from the bowels

Letter-by-letter path explanation

Each rung below changes exactly one letter from the rung above it. Read top-to-bottom — by the last rung you have reached POOP.

  1. Step 1: LAVA → LAMALetter 3 changes from V to M
  2. Step 2: LAMA → LIMALetter 2 changes from A to I
  3. Step 3: LIMA → LIMPLetter 4 changes from A to P
  4. Step 4: LIMP → PIMPLetter 1 changes from L to P
  5. Step 5: PIMP → POMPLetter 2 changes from I to O
  6. Step 6: POMP → POOPLetter 3 changes from M to O

Strategy for solving this puzzle

The fastest path is 6 moves. Only one legal first move stays on the shortest route: LAVE. If you do not see those moves immediately, the neighbouring first steps that add only one extra move are: FAVA, JAVA, KAVA, LEVA. Most players find the par through one of those rather than the strict shortest-path branch. This board is harder than yesterday's puzzle — expect to spend a few more minutes if you are not familiar with words around LAVA.

Word finder & reference words

Use this block to scout the ladder by hand: the neighbours show what one-letter moves are legal from LAVA, and the same-suffix list shows the wider family of words that share the ending.

Word groupWords
1-letter mutations of LAVAFAVA, JAVA, KAVA, LAMA, LAVE, LEVA
4-letter words ending in VADIVA, FAVA, JAVA, KAVA, LEVA, VIVA

FAQ

What is the Poople game?

Poople is a daily word ladder puzzle: start from a four-letter word, change one letter at a time, and reach POOP in as few steps as possible. A new puzzle drops every day at 08:00 UTC.

What is the answer to Poople #359?

The shortest path from LAVA to POOP takes 6 steps:LAVA → LAMA → LIMA → LIMP → PIMP → POMP → POOP. See the full ladder above for every intermediate word.

Is the shortest path unique for #359?

No. There are 8 shortest routes that all tie at 6 steps — the ladder above is one optimal line, but other bridge words reach POOP just as fast.

What is the key late-game move in #359?

The turning point is reaching PIMP — once you reach PIMP, the remaining 2 steps to POOP follow naturally through common words like POMP.

How do I get better at Poople?

Practice with our free unlimited mode to build pattern recognition. Vowel swaps, consonant clusters, and bridge words like BOOK and COOK repeat across many puzzles. Stuck on a different pair? Use the Poople solver to see the shortest ladder between any two words, or jump to today's daily puzzle.

What do the difficulty labels mean?

Easy (1–5 steps), Medium (6–9 steps), Hard (10+ steps). Difficulty depends on the starting word's letters — rare letters like J, X, Q, Z make paths longer because fewer one-letter neighbours exist.

First moves

Distance from parLegal first moves
On the shortest pathLAVE
One step longerFAVA, JAVA, KAVA, LEVA
Two or more steps longerNone