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.
| Callsign | Name | ARRL Section/Country | Guesses | Status | |
| 1. | W7DXT | Mark R Metzler | Western Washington | 2 | Win |
| 2. | N7FG | David B Jackson | Idaho | 2 | Win |
| 3. | ZL1ACH | John ten Velde | New Zealand | 3 | Win |
| 4. | AC1BC | Ray A Cielencki | Eastern Massachusetts | 3 | Win |
| 5. | KK7AZD | Cynthia W Albro | Oregon | 3 | Win |
| 6. | KN4LQN | David M Elkins | Virginia | 3 | Win |
| 7. | WB3EGD | RICHARD J ROCKMAN | Eastern Pennsylvania | 3 | Win |
| 8. | KG7WFQ | John D Sullivan | Western Washington | 3 | Win |
| 9. | K0WET | Brad R Greenwood | Colorado | 3 | Win |
| 10. | KF5NQV | Robert H Sieger | Oklahoma | 3 | Win |
| 11. | KN4KWA | CHARLES F WEBB | North Carolina | 4 | Win |
| 12. | AC7WU | Robert M Cooley | Oregon | 4 | Win |
| 13. | KG6IMB | John E Breiding | Orange | 4 | Win |
| 14. | J73MO | Maureen Horrick | Dominica | 4 | Win |
| 15. | VK2SKY | Richard Murnane | Australia | 5 | Win |
| 16. | VA7CXN | Chris Walker | Canada | 5 | Win |
| 17. | KH6L | Terence S Dowling | Pacific | 5 | Win |
| 18. | NJ3H | George A Stein | Oregon | 6 | Win |
| 19. | N5YV | JOSHUA S LOFTON | North Texas | 1 | Playing |
| 20. | KC3WHU | Walter C Mankowski | Northern New Jersey | 1 | Playing |
| 21. | KN6WPU | GYULA SZENTIRMAY | San Francisco | 1 | Playing |
| 22. | W7EAZ | MARK L HOLT | Oregon | 1 | Playing |
| 23. | KE8YJX | David A Perry, III | Ohio | 1 | Playing |
| 24. | KC6ARO | WILLIAM A MOYES | West Texas | 1 | Playing |
| 25. | K6FW | FRANK C WESTPHAL | Orange | 1 | Playing |
| 26. | NS2B | Robert L Smith | Western New York | 2 | Playing |
| 27. | N2MHO | Michael Harla | Southern New Jersey | 2 | Playing |
| 28. | KX4AC | Carl H Jones | Arizona | 2 | Playing |
| 29. | WY7CDL | Clayton D Lowther | Utah | 3 | Playing |
81 Total Guesses
Links to Leaderboard Reports
Current Gameplay
All-Time Leaderboards
- Callsign Leaderboard
- Name Leaderboard
- Win Percentage Leaderboard
- Games Leaderboard
- Wins Leaderboard
- Losses Leaderboard
- Turns To Win Leaderboard
- Section/Country Leaderboard
- State Leaderboard
- County Leaderboard
- Grid Leaderboard
Playing Streaks
- Callsign Streak
- Name Streak
- Win Percentage Streak
- Games Streak
- First Play Date Streak
- Recent Play Date Streak
- Longest Streak
- Longest Start Date Streak
- Recent Streak
- Recent Start Date Streak
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