The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 7 plus 6 letter word THE HEAVENS OPENED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
H
E
H
E
A
V
E
N
S
O
P
E
N
E
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "it 12-ed" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it 12-ed = the heavens opened.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.