publication date: Thursday, December 13, 2012 (part of Winter 2013)

category: Literature

clue: Publishing a novel at age 17 is enough to earn praise even from Hunter S. Thompson.

explanation: McDonell's first novel, Twelve, was published when he was 17. Family friend Thompson praised the work. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Denise Sawicki, Erik Bates, Mike Rothstein, and Aaron Shurtleff

Powers of Twelve: On Wednesday of this week, it will be the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the century, an occasion we won't see again in our lifetimes. These five duodecimal goos were inspired by the number 12.

Similar Goos

Edgar Allan Poe

One can only imagine the tintinnabulation of the bells that announced his 1835 marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. Go »

Joe Namath

The Jets retired this quarterback's jersey, but his Broadway career wasn't as successful. Go »

Patti Smith

The godmother of punk is still active, having released an album of covers in 2007. Go »

Terry Gross

This great, gross radio host from Philadelphia is a breath of fresh air. Go »

Bob Bowlsby

Earlier this year, he became one of the biggest commissioners in sports. Go »

H.G. Wells

Survival will be hard if Martians attack, but according to this author, it won't be much easier 800,000 years in the future. Go »