The route reaches the final bridge COOP, then changes letter 1 to reach POOP. Its 6 moves match the dictionary distance calculated from the target.
Compare the first move
CITY has 2 accepted one-letter neighbors in this vocabulary. 1 can begin a shortest route: CITE. Each leaves exactly 5 moves to POOP.
Some longer openings are PITY (7 total moves). These counts include the first move from CITY.
Similarity can be misleading
CITY → CITE, COTE → COME do not reduce the number of letters that differ from POOP, but still belong to a minimum-move route. Reachable word connections matter more than matching letters immediately.
If a word is rejected
Enter the last accepted word in the solver, exclude the rejected word, and recalculate. A shorter dictionary can require more moves. Read the strategy guide for a worked detour example.
