[wp-hackers] how to create a widget rendering category returns in columns?

[Ian Douglas]

Can anyone give me some pointers on a custom widget?

I'm working with a theme that renders categories on the front page. As the client has a site that has a great many stories in each category, he wants to list more categories in a list view as shown in the mockup below (I photoshoped it to show what I need to do, masked in red).

I want to keep the layout of the theme, but the thing I'm struggling with is not placing a new widget, or finding a script that pulls up recent posts in a category. Rather, I don't know how to render a certain number of returns in columns.

Below, in the mockup, there are seven, or 21 as a total. I'd love it to look like this, if at all possible.

I hope it's not a misuse of this list, but I'd really appreciate if anyone could give me a few pointers on how to create this.

Thanks so much,
ian