diff --git a/.github/workflows/cpp-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/cpp-ci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07d49aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/cpp-ci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+name: C++ CI
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ master ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ master ]
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - name: Compile C++ 2017
+        run: make
+  analyze:
+    needs: build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Install linting dependencies
+        run: apt-get -qq update && apt-get -qq --force-yes install cppcheck
+      - name: Analyze design
+        run: cppcheck . --std=c++17
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dictionary.cpp b/dictionary.cpp
index 440f250..065f024 100644
--- a/dictionary.cpp
+++ b/dictionary.cpp
@@ -6,10 +6,18 @@
 // initiate word dictionary from file .wordler.data and store them as a 
 // list of upper case letters
 dictionary::dictionary(){
-    std::ifstream read(".wordler.data");
+    dictionary_file = DEFAULT_DICTIONARY; // default file
+    load_dictionary(dictionary_file);
+}
+
+// loads words from file name passed in as long as it includes
+// at least one word
+void dictionary::load_dictionary(std::string file){
+    std::ifstream read(file);
+    std::vector <std::string> temp;
 
     if( !read.is_open() ){
-        words.push_back("words");
+        return;
     }
     else{
         std::string word;
@@ -18,13 +26,34 @@ dictionary::dictionary(){
             for(int i=0; i<word.length(); i++){
                 word[i] = toupper(word[i]);
             }
-            words.push_back(word);
+           temp.push_back(word);
         }
     }
+
+    if( temp.size() > 0 ){
+        words = temp;
+        dictionary_file = file;
+    }
     read.close();
 }
 
+// returns the name of the file that was most recently used to 
+// load the current dictionary
+std::string dictionary::file_name(){
+    return dictionary_file;
+}
+
 // select a random word from our dictionary and return it
 std::string dictionary::select_word(){
     return words.at(rand() % words.size());
+}
+
+// return a word from our dictionary given a seed as an index
+std::string dictionary::select_word(int seed){
+    return words.at(seed % words.size());
+}
+
+// retrieves the number of words currently in the dictionary
+int dictionary::size(){
+    return words.size();
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dictionary.h b/dictionary.h
index 913f671..1a6005c 100644
--- a/dictionary.h
+++ b/dictionary.h
@@ -6,11 +6,17 @@
 
 class dictionary{
 private:
+    const std::string DEFAULT_DICTIONARY = ".wordler.data";
     std::vector<std::string> words;
-    void load_words();
+    std::string dictionary_file;
+
 public:
     dictionary();
+    void load_dictionary(std::string);
+    std::string file_name();
     std::string select_word();
+    std::string select_word(int seed);
+    int size();
 };
 
 #endif
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index ec3befc..5f8a9de 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ int main(){
         // capitalize guess for easy comparisons
         capitalize(guess);
         guesses++;
-        hint = capitalize(get_hint(guess,secret));
+        hint = get_hint(guess,secret);
+        capitalize(hint);
 
         if( hint == secret ){
             std::cout << "Congrats, you got it in " << guesses << " guesses!\n";