Heaneyland!

Various things one might wish to be apprised of

Two blog posts in one day, after a month of nothin'? Well, you know what they say -- it never rains but sometimes Francis actually posts to his blog. And actually sometimes it does rain, so I don't know why they say that.

First off, my latest crossword book, "Sit & Solve Quick & Easy Crossword Puzzles" is now available in stores and from all your usual online retailers (Amazon, B&N, and maybe Craigslist for all I know). These are cute-as-a-button little 10x10 crosswords, a handful of which are themeless but mostly feature mini-themes (and are sometimes asymmetrical, because why the heck not).

In other crossword news, I have several puzzles on the way, which I'll re-plug when they're actually about to appear, but in addition to my usual Onion puzzle, I will also be turning up in Wired (probably), and the New York Times Magazine (definitely), the latter featuring my first Sunday Times crossword. I've had a bunch of puzzles in the Times, including a Sunday diagramless, but never a 21x21, so woohoo, awesome! There's also a puzzle you won't be seeing in the Onion, which I constructed and clued even though I kind of expected the idea to get killed (and, really, quite rightly so). But I thought I'd post it here anyway, just so you can see for yourself the Worst, Most Offensive Puzzle Theme Idea I Have Ever Had, which I apologize most profusely for, and I hope you will still continue to solve my other puzzles after seeing it, because really, the Times crossword is quite a nice feat of construction and is perfectly breakfast-table-appropriate, unlike this (named after a song title by Joy Division, in case you were wondering, in turn named after a J.G. Ballard novel, and I can't believe I'm still talking about this crossword, which was, let me reiterate, a really terrible idea).

In other news, the fabulous Lorinne Lampert will be performing on Monday, June 7, at the Bindlestiff Open Stage Variety Show at Galapagos Art Space as Uke-Lola (doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00). She will be singing, strumming, strutting, and simply sensational. If that's not sufficient enticement, host Keith Bindlestiff will once again be attempting his fabled "Kendama Blockhead" trick, in which he nails a cup-and-ball toy into his nose, and then tries to catch the ball in the cup. You either won't want to miss it, or won't want to look at it. All this and more for a mere $5! How can you resist?

Finally, I'm happy to report that I posted to my blog twice today. Hello, internet. I missed you.