CLOCK WORD
The solutions from 1 to 12 are all six-letter words ending with the letter D in the centre. Moving clockwise from 1, the letters in the outer circle will spell out the name of an American author and cartoonist.
1. Cheerful
2. Fearful
3. Thawed
4. Very happy
5. Disgusting
6. Yanked
7. Extreme dislike
8. Shoeless
9. Plump
10. Hit, informally
11. Swell
12. Encircled