Hamword is a Winlink-based game mimicking the popular five-letter word guessing game Wordle. The goal of this game is to give hams a way to practice their Winlink skills while having fun guessing an unknown five-letter word.

You only need an amateur radio license and an operational Winlink account to play the game. You can learn more about setting up Winlink at https://ok.arrl.org/nts/ntsoksoftware/.

How to Play

Once you have Winlink up and running, send a five-letter word via Winlink to the tactical call sign HAMWORD. The subject line can be anything you wish; the message body should contain your guess. Your messages will be graded and returned via a Winlink message at 00, 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour.

Response Key

Since Winlink doesn’t allow text colors, you will receive a five-number “key” to guide you in your next choice. The numbers 0, 1, and 2 are returned using the following definitions:
0 means the letter above the key is not seen in the word you are guessing. (Similar to gray in Wordle.)
1 means that the letter above the key is used in the word you are guessing but is in the wrong location. (Similar to yellow in Wordle.)
2 means that the letter above the key is used in the word you are guessing and is in the correct location. (Similar to green in Wordle.)

 

Weekly Reset

In this game, the guessed word will reset weekly at 00:00Z on Monday (Sunday evening in the United States). At 00:02z, we send Winlink messages to remind you the new week has started! So, make your guesses throughout the week and make sure you solve the puzzle before the word resets. You have six chances to solve the puzzle each week.

Current Week Leaderboard / Activity

This is the current week’s leaderboard. Clicking on their callsign will provide some statistics of their gameplay.

 CallsignNameARRL Section/CountryGuessesStatus
1. AD2Z Seward D Heckman, JR Western New York 2 Win
2. WB7FHC WARREN L CHURCHWARD Western Washington 3 Win
3. N7FG David B Jackson Western Washington 3 Win
4. KN4KWA CHARLES F WEBB North Carolina 3 Win
5. N5AZQ MARK T CLAYTON Oklahoma 3 Win
6. AE5MI Elizabeth Y Cuevas Mississippi 3 Win
7. W7DXT Mark R Metzler Western Washington 3 Win
8. WB3EGD RICHARD J ROCKMAN Eastern Pennsylvania 3 Win
9. J72DMR Denise M. Edwards Dominica 3 Win
10. NJ3H George A Stein Oregon 3 Win
11. WB9YIG DAVID M JULIAN Indiana 3 Win
12. VA7CXN Chris Walker Canada 3 Win
13. KG7AV Raymond J Spreier Oregon 3 Win
14. N0ZJT ERIC A GRAMS Iowa 3 Win
15. VE7TIN Tadeusz Zygmunt Nawrocki Canada 3 Win
16. K7PIL Paul A Lamb Oregon 3 Win
17. VE7PES Alan L. Hoover Canada 3 Win
18. WB0QGL JEFFREY D HALMAGYI Colorado 3 Win
19. W7EAZ MARK L HOLT Oregon 3 Win
20. KA2R Martin W Lifgren, Jr Eastern New York 3 Win
21. AG5DV Edwin F Hatch Oklahoma 4 Win
22. AI5IJ Ricky D Rhoton Oklahoma 4 Win
23. KG7WFQ John D Sullivan Western Washington 4 Win
24. KG6IMB John E Breiding Orange 4 Win
25. KC6ARO WILLIAM A MOYES West Texas 4 Win
26. N8SQT ROBERT A RECNY Oregon 4 Win
27. KF5NQV Robert H Sieger Oklahoma 4 Win
28. AG7BI Mauro Leibelt Western Washington 4 Win
29. WZ7L Robert Allen Western Washington 4 Win
30. AC1BC Ray A Cielencki Eastern Massachusetts 4 Win
31. DF4WC ANDREAS REHBERG Germany 4 Win
32. KN4LQN David M Elkins Virginia 4 Win
33. VA3PC Paul Caccamo Canada 4 Win
34. KX4AC Carl H Jones Arizona 4 Win
35. WB0KHQ Tim L Moody Iowa 4 Win
36. G1BVI Nick Moldon England 4 Win
37. KK7AZD Cynthia W Albro Oregon 4 Win
38. W1SAV Walter L Savinovich Santa Clara Valley 4 Win
39. VA7TEV Thomas William Evdokimoff Canada 4 Win
40. KC3WHU Walter C Mankowski Northern New Jersey 4 Win
41. KG7GTC Robert G Sipes Western Washington 4 Win
42. W1TM TIMOTHY R GORDISH Kansas 4 Win
43. W9DSE Russell S Beyer Virginia 4 Win
44. K6FW FRANK C WESTPHAL Orange 4 Win
45. KE6BEE HOWDY GOUDEY East Bay 4 Win
46. K0WET Brad R Greenwood Colorado 5 Win
47. VK2SKY Richard Murnane Australia 5 Win
48. N2MHO Michael Harla Southern New Jersey 5 Win
49. KE8BSM Zachary L Bennett Michigan 5 Win
50. KM4PJZ JOHN B COLEMAN Virginia 5 Win
51. J73MO Maureen Horrick Dominica 5 Win
52. NS2B Robert L Smith Western New York 5 Win
53. KA9IKK BILL C NOVAK West Texas 5 Win
54. KQ7MLT Michael L Trigoboff Oregon 5 Win
55. W4AEN Ed Neely North Carolina 5 Win
56. KL1V Kevin M Opalka Alaska 5 Win
57. KH6L Terence S Dowling Pacific 6 Win
58. W1LEM Lemuel Skidmore Eastern Massachusetts 6 Win
59. KB1VP DONALD W PRICE, JR Vermont 6 Win
60. K9LJB Roger B Whitaker Illinois 1 Playing
61. ZL1ACH John ten Velde New Zealand 2 Playing
62. KD8WCK Richard A DeMattia Ohio 2 Playing
63. K7QB ROBERT W PERRY Indiana 4 Playing
64. WW8L TIM J ANNABLE Colorado 4 Playing
65. KC6YNF ROBERT C GANNON Orange 5 Playing
66. N3OJP MICHAEL F PYZOHA Western Pennsylvania 5 Playing
67. K2ADV Richard L Mcclendon Western Washington 6 Lose

261 Total Guesses


Links to Leaderboard Reports

Current Gameplay

All-Time Leaderboards

Playing Streaks

30-Day Leaderboards

Summaries


Game Timing

Hamword uses the timestamp that comes with each incoming Winlink message. That timestamp is generated by Winlink Express (or another client) based on your computer’s time clock. Having your local time clock slightly ahead or behind the standard can cause unexpected results. So, if a message is received before the message timestamp, it is held until the next grading time to be processed in the correct position. To keep users playing in the current week, the server’s received time is used to process the guess when a message timestamp is over a day off. Ensure your time clock is set to an accurate time standard for best results.

Hamword Handout

Here’s a PDF handout to share Hamword with friends and fellow Winlink users.

73, de N5HZR