Sunday July 18, 2021 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: "Flip-flops" - The second part of each theme entry is a swapped part of the first half. 

22A. The drive-through diner scene that was cut became a __: TAKEOUT OUTTAKE.

36A. The girls who spent the night prioritized chat time at the __: SLEEPOVER OVERSLEEP.

53A. When the dog got loose, some house plants __: ENDED UP UPENDED.

81A. The casual quarterback made an __: OFFHAND HAND-OFF.

99A. A navel ring is a piercing one may __: WEAR UNDER UNDERWEAR.

120A. The fast-learning police cadet had the __: PAT-DOWN DOWN PAT.

Sometimes it's easy for me to understand the theme but hard to explain. Today's is a good example.

I know we call "End up" & "Pat down" phrasal verbs, but what do you call nouns like "takeout" and "sleepover"? 

Across:

1. Wretched: ABJECT. Lots of great 6's in this grid.

7. Mount Rainier gateway: TACOMA.

13. Hoops statistic: ASSIST.

19. Taste: FLAVOR.

20. In favor of Mideast unity: PAN-ARAB.

 21. Arty: CHI-CHI. Golfers know this "arty" guy. Chi Chi Rodriguez.

24. Right after this: HERE ON.

25. Fall garden?: EDEN. Nice clue.

26. Riverbank residue: SILT.

27. Parisian season: ETE. Summer.

28. Vote of support: AYE.

29. What Jill has that Jack doesn't?: DOT. The dot over the i in "Jill".

30. Break: REST.

31. Stab: TRY.

32. 1956 title film monster: RODAN. More powerful than the Godzilla.

34. Smart: NATTY.

41. LP's 33 1/3: RPM.

44. Browsing annoyances: ADS.

45. Wordless agreement: NOD.

46. Sugary ending: OSE. Lactose, e.g.

47. Reduce: PARE.

48. Long: YEARN.

50. Shot __: competitive event: PUT. Also 4D. Track contests: EVENTS. I don't think I can name one shot putter.

51. Privileged people: ELITE. I chuckled at the "scheduling conflict" excuse of that anonymous space flight guy.

57. False front: FACADE.

63. Get into: DON.

64. What a stationary orrery part may represent: SUN. I did not know the word "orrery", the solar system model.

65. Clarifying Latin words: ID EST.

67. Grew dimmer: WANED.

68. Sweetens, as yams: CANDIES. Staple in our home during Chinese Spring Festival period.

70. Iraqi currency: DINAR.

72. Modified for the better: AMENDED.

74. Private: INNER.

75. Barely sufficient: SCANT.

77. Stroke that makes a rally irrelevant: ACE. Tennis.

78. Surrealist German-French painter: ARP (Jean). Here's his "Shirt Front and Fork". I just see a fork.

79. Gazes fixedly: STARES.

86. Expand: ADD TO.

88. Bossy utterance: MOO.

89. African capital on the 30th parallel: CAIRO.

90. "It is a __ told by an idiot": Macbeth: TALE.

94. What chatty tongues do?: WAG. Ha.

95. Poke fun at: KID.

96. Mrs., in Madrid: SRA.

98. Apply a new hue to: DYE.

105. It has pipes and keys: ORGAN. We had to call a junk guy to haul our old organ away.

106. Source of some overhead footage: DRONE.

107. Apple operating system: IOS.

108. Hadrian's defense: WALL. Hadrian's Wall.

112. Follow (along) closely: TAG.

113. "It totally happened!": WAY. I don't understand this clue.

115. Memorable first name in soccer: MIA. Hamm, who lives in Bill G's neighborhood.

116. Small racer: KART.

117. Sailing: ASEA.

118. Indicating stress: ITALIC.

123. Most trifling: MEREST.

124. Fail to take seriously: SNEER AT.

125. Red-skinned root: RADISH. These are daikon radishes. Staple winter food for me.

126. Current events?: EDDIES. Another great clue.

127. Soaked through: SODDEN.

128. Demands and gets: EXACTS.

Down:

1. Following: AFTER.

2. Business end of an ax: BLADE.

3. "North and South" trilogy author John __: JAKES. Learning moment for me.

5. Bill's partner: COO.

6. Confided in: TRUSTED.

7. Showing strain: TAUT.

8. One lining up for food?: ANT. Ah, cute clue angle.

9. Took care of the food: CATERED.

10. Strong speaker: ORATOR.

11. Be resourceful: MAKE DO.

12. Prez on a penny: ABE.

13. Feeling it after a workout: ACHY.

14. Lusters: SHEENS. Spellcheck does not like the plural form.

15. Honorary title: SIR.

16. Picnic pitcherful: ICED TEA. This is the popular summer drink in Hong Kong. Lemon tea. Iced of course.

17. NBA's Steph Curry, frequently: SHOOTER.

18. Early photograph: TINTYPE.

20. Sea anemone, e.g.: POLYP.

23. Gives out: TIRES.

28. "__ of robins ... ": Kilmer: A NEST.

33. Refrains from: AVOIDS.

35. The Eiger, for one: ALP.

37. Secure, as a job or a role: LAND.

38. "Get __": James Brown biopic: ON UP.

39. Choose at the polls: VOTE.

40. Shipping hazard: REEF.

41. Bread-making grain: RYE. My friend Carmen is very into Russian rye bread now. She also likes Japanese milk bread. Guangzhou is very international.

42. Locket, for one: PENDANT.

43. Singer/actress known as the "Queen of Pop": MADONNA.

49. Cause to become: RENDER.

50. Mae West's "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted," e.g.: PUN.

51. Icelandic literary work: EDDA.

52. Sidelong glance: LEER.

54. Consume: USE.

55. Kitty: PUSS.

56. Beethoven's __: NINTH.

58. Response to the sublime: AWE.

59. Largest English-speaking country: CANADA. Wow. Not US?

60. Google operating system: ANDROID.

61. Cook, as much county fair fare: DEEP-FRY.

62. Announcer Hall: EDD. Jay Leno's announcer on "The Tonight Show" (1992 to 2004).

66. Gauge on the dash: TACH.

68. Opposite of trans: CIS. Gender-wise.

69. Hot temper: IRE.

70. Inane: DAFT.

71. Lowdown: INFO.

73. "Give __ minute": ME A.

76. Often "old" eccentric: CODGER.

77. Big deal: ADO.

80. Like fireplace logs: SAWN.

82. Within: AMID.

83. Plant stem joint: NODE.

84. Final Four org.: NCAA.

85. Moriarty, to Holmes: FOE. Professor Moriarty & Sherlock Holmes.

87. __ longlegs: DADDY. Looks like a spider.

90. Cheat on one's sweet, say: TWO-TIME.

91. Freshened up, in a way: AERATED. It seems that golf courses all aerate their greens in fall.

92. Slowpoke: LAGGARD.

93. Often titled stretch: ERA.

95. Massaged: KNEADED.

96. Excalibur, e.g.: SWORD.

97. Put back as it was: RESTORE. Lost all my iPod downloads after I hit the restoring to factory settings button. Good old classic.

100. Not sensible: UNWISE.

101. Pecorino __ cheese: ROMANO.

102. __ Kingdom: UNITED.

103. Laughing: RIANT. Only saw word in crosswords.

104. Its capital is Kigali: RWANDA.

109. Gelatin garnish: ASPIC. Jellied pork, Chinese style. I think Vietnamese has similar dish also.

110. "Not in the __": LEAST.

111. Framework strips: LATHS.

114. Book after John: ACTS.

116. Nine-time U.S. skating champ Michelle: KWAN.

119. Gift with an aloha: LEI.

120. Brief afterthoughts: PSS.

121. Metal source: ORE.

122. Become more intense, as the moon: WAX.

 C.C.