Gannett’s faux alt weekly in Cincinnati has officially been launched — a kickoff party was held Oct. 1 and the name unveiled: Cin. First issue is Wednesday, Oct. 29. (Note: CityBeat publishes on Wednesday.)

A prototype was handed out — 64 pages, high bright newsprint, four-color on every page. Reportedly printed at Gannett’s presses in Indianapolis. Looks a lot like Thrive in Boise, where the Enquirer’s new publisher came from — similar layout and flow, with 10 pages of daily classifieds in the back. Not a single story jumps. One of the promoted feature articles — “Liz Phair Speaks Out!” — was nine paragraphs, with two quotes.

The name? Beats us. Pronounced “sin,” it could be poking fun at Cincinnati’s well-deserved conservative reputation, but there’s no way that will pass muster in a city that continues to prosecute Larry Flynt’s Hustler store for selling dirty videos. Pronounced “kin,” it makes no sense. Pronounced “chin” as the Italians do, it’s rather cheeky.

The tag line: “Good Clean Fun.” Good as in positive (their sales reps are telling people CityBeat is too negative and Cin will be positive); clean as in what a daily paper would do with an alt weekly format; fun as in, well, it’s all about the fun after all.