It was Nancy K, who was the third person (out of apparently fifteen) to correctly guess the animal I was thinking of, which was the pangolin. She wins because when I rolled my 20-sided die on my desk, the number that came up was “3”, and she was the third. Yes, the counting of the number was three. You may start making your Monty Python jokes now.
Thanks everyone who played along! It was fun to do one of these again. I might do it again soon. Nancy K, I’ll send you an email.
No. You’re wrong. The correct answer was “ocelot”
A true nerd would have rolled one of these.
Dang! I just realized I had my red shirt on when I made my guess.
Ugh, above URL didn’t work. There goes my nerd credentials. This should work:
https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/013/428/482/e12b16bba55849e3090b19e1cc348d48_original.jpg?w=1536&h=864&fit=fill&bg=000000&v=1473517420&auto=format&q=92&s=c01010a7a3155686aabc981cdde2900e
A pangolin? How otterly ridiculous!
Awesome animal! Is it too late to change my answer?
Rigged!
Congrats Nancy – I was a victim of a nefarious die roll :-)
Dang it! I said dog but pangolin was my second choice! :-)
I am unreasonably excited that I guessed right, even if I wasn’t the winner.
Congratulations Nancy!
Looks ikke a jackal to me.
An armored tree rat. Nice. Choice.
Way to go, NancyK!
Just to clarify, John’s sending you a pangolin along with the book, right?
How could you think of a pangolin? What thought process was taking place?
When I saw the picture my first thought was “what is that?
Ergo I stood no chance whatsoever of being a winner.
Huh. Never heard of a pangolin before, googled it & learned something new.
Awfully cute in a walking artichoke kind of way.
“Pangolin” is what I think when I watch Itzhak Perlman play the violin. (What I hear is much sweeter.)
So John, why were you thinking about a pangolin? The suspense is killing me…
Once there was a Pangolin
who tried to build a mandolin
he bought a kit
and threw a fit —
he could not get the handle in
I’m so happy that it was a pangolin that I don’t even mind that I didn’t win! Just going to sit here, basking the satisfaction of being right.
I thought ‘pangolin,’ but since there were well over 800 entrants, didn’t bother to enter. Guess I will have to buy the book.
I have to admit, I instantly thought, “pangolin.” Because CUL DE SAC, and because I saw an article about them online somewhere.
But then I thought, “Kurt, you’re a publishing professional. This contest is Not For You.”
Congrats to Nancy K!
I agree with KiwiSteve – WTF led to you thinking of a pangolin?!?! I have ADHD and I can’t even imagine that chain!
J Van Post: LOVE the limerick.
So the question stands: Why were you thinking of the Pangolin? (I know they’re darn cute critters but…?)
Why WOULDN’T I be thinking of a pangolin?
I guessed armadillo. I was close!
Five was right out. [/mandatory Monty Python joke]
@kurtbusiak
Thanks for making me tear up in the office. Richard Thompson was a dear friend, and I’m sure he would be delighted to know you recall his pangolin.
Aren’t pangolins a bit Panglossian?
Ha ha! The animal I immediately thought of was “pangolin”, but I clicked on the comments and saw dozens of people had already mentioned the pangolin, so I didn’t bother… Clearly we have a line to John Scalzi’s psyche.
I guessed pangolin but somehow it came out spelled “deer” :P
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I thought pangolins were bigger than the pictured critter… but I know thats a pic of a pangolin. Cute, aren’t th.ey?
Pangolins are cool. There’s no question that a person who thinks of a Pangolin is deserving of a free book. It just makes sense.
How odd. I ALWAYS think about pangolins, but some strange influence made me think about lemurs.