Let's practice the "/ æ /" sound as in "apple" or "family" by this NPR word game!

This week, let us try the fun word puzzle (that was aired on NPR Weekend On-Air Challenge, January 12^th, 2020).


Every answer is a compound word in which the vowel sound in each half is a short "a"— as in "grassland" or "madcap" – which is called an “ash” sound 
/ æ/   in American English.

     1.   Father's father

     2.   Item in a levee

     3.   Slang term for someone who talks, talks, talks

     4.   Symbol in a tweet

     5.   Sudden remembrance of something past

     6.   Carrying case with straps that's worn over the shoulders

     7.   Pancake

      
 8.   Game of 21

     9.   Low-growing weed that can quickly take over a lawn

     10.               Old-fashioned timer that you periodically turn over

     11.               Place where taxis line up

     12.               Done hurriedly and carelessly

     13.               Make individually without machine help

     14.                Item you step onto when you step out of the shower

<Answer Keys>

   1.  Granddad

   2.  Sandbag

   3.  Gasbag

   4.  Hashtag

   5.  Flashback

   6.  Backpack or Knapsack

   7.  Flapjack

   8.  Blackjack

   9.  Crapgrass

  10.              Sandglass

  11.              Cabstand

  12.              Slapdash

  13.              Handcraft

  14.              bathmat