The route reaches the final bridge POOF, then changes letter 4 to reach POOP. Its 7 moves match the dictionary distance calculated from the target.
Compare the first move
WAVY has 4 accepted one-letter neighbors in this vocabulary. 2 can begin a shortest route: WARY, WAVE. Each leaves exactly 6 moves to POOP.
Some longer openings are NAVY (8 total moves), WAXY (8 total moves). These counts include the first move from WAVY.
Similarity can be misleading
WAVY → WARY, WARY → WARD, WOOD → WOOF 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.
