Sunday August 1, 2021 Paul Coulter

Theme: "Color Coordinated" - The left side of each theme entry is a common phrase with a color in it. The right side is another meaning of the phrase.

22. One of a West Coast trio: BLUE STATE. And  24. 22-Across, emotionally: MELANCHOLY.

36. Lover with ulterior motives: GOLD DIGGER. And 39. 36-Across, in the Old West: FORTY-NINER.

52. Street warning: YELLOW LIGHT. And 56. 52-Across, from the sky: SUNBEAM.

74. Lucille Ball, e.g.: RED HEAD. And 76. 74-Across, in the Cold War: FIDEL CASTRO.

 90. Big name in frozen food: GREEN GIANT. And  93. 90-Across, in the forest: DOUGLAS FIR.

106. Presidential address: WHITE HOUSE. And 108. 106-Across, at a winter carnival: ICE PALACE.

Really enjoyed this puzzle. We've seen "Blue state?" as a clue for MELANCHOLY in the past. Or "Gold diggers?" for FORTY-NINERS. Never thought of an extra color layer for a theme. Cute.

We have 114 theme squares, higher than our average. Paul also had to deal with 12 entries without much flexibility to shift them around due to the side by side constrict.

Across:

1. Show of affection: KISS.

5. Hat-tipper's word: MA'AM.

9. Implied: TACIT. Not MEANT.

14. Spa sigh: AAH.

17. Shine: GLOW. Our Minnesota girl Sunisa Lee. More chance for gold next week.

18. Mallorca o Menorca: ISLA.

19. "It matters to me": I CARE.

20. Barrie's "man who stabbed without offence": SMEE.  "Peter Pan".

26. Split to unite: ELOPE.

27. Yoda trainees: JEDIS. The plural of Jedi is still Jedi.

28. Subway gates: STILES.

30. Jabbers: PRATES.

33. Unwise, as a choice: BAD.

34. __-Caps: SNO.

35. NFL brother of Peyton: ELI. Here they are.

43. Accomplished: ABLE.

44. Agra attire: SARIS.

45. Blunted blade: EPEE.

46. Makes sense: FITS.

47. Exhausted: BEAT.

49. PC-to-PC hookup: LAN. Local Area Network.

50. Self-Operating Napkin creator Goldberg: RUBE.

51. 1987 Costner role: NESS.  "The Untouchables".

58. "... __ the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE.

59. Subatomic particle: PION. MUON too.

60. Big-eyed tyke: OWLET.

62. GHWB predecessor: RWR. Ronald Wilson Reagan. Not a common  monogram.

63. Syracuse locale: Abbr.: NYS. New York State.

64. RR map dot: STN.

65. High winds: OBOES.

66. Kind of sauce or milk: SOY. Always have upset stomach when I have the reformulated Silk Soy Milk now.

67. Stat on a dealer's sticker: MPG.

70. Photo: PIC.

71. Sing like Dean Martin: CROON.

72. Bang-up: A ONE.

73. Retract, as one's words: EAT.

79. Phony (up): HOKE. Not a word I use.

80. PG-13 issuing org.: MPAA. Motion Picture Association of America.

82. Maracanã Stadium city: RIO. Maracanã Stadium  hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio  Olympics.

83. HR dept. concern: RE-LO.

84. "Othello" villain: IAGO.

85. Seed coat: ARIL.

86. Blessings: BOONS.

88. Turturro of "The Sopranos": AIDA. Don't know her. But love the new clue angle or AIDA.

95. "Catch-22" pilot: ORR. Learned from doing crosswords.

96. Annex: ELL.

97. Misunderstanding metaphor: GAP.

98. Online payment option: E CHECK.

99. Spin: ROTATE.

101. Indeed: TRULY.

104. Mountain ridge: ARETE. Like this.

112. "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE.  What's your favorite Sade song? Mine is "Somebody Already Broke My Heart".

113. Island nation east of Fiji: TONGA.

114. Lead-in to second: NANO.

115. Four-legged "king": LION.

116. "Chopped" host Allen: TED.

117. Anger: STEAM.

118. Belmonts lead singer: DION. Dion and the Belmonts.

119. EPA concern: SMOG. Bad air in our area the past few days. Wildfire smoke from Canada. Lots of active fires in Ontario and Manitoba.

Down:

1. Old USSR espionage gp.: KGB. Dissolved in 1991.

2. Unfavorable, as wind: ILL.

3. Paltry amount: SOU.

4. "That's a terrific price": SWEET DEAL. Great fill.

5. Dividing-cell process: MITOSIS. New word to me.

6. "By yesterday!": ASAP.

7. Der __: Adenauer epithet: ALTE. German for "old".

8. Sassy West: MAE.

9. Like major sports games except baseball: TIMED. Baseball is so slow.

10. Nailed: ACED.

11. Colombian city: CALI. Chickie and her husband Bill used to live in Cali.

12. Srs.' income sources: IRAS.

13. Highest Scrabble letter value: TEN. What's your score? My full name Zhouqin Burnikel scores 42 for me. It's also a grid-spanner.

14. Kutcher of "That '70s Show": ASHTON.

15. Paris possessive: A MOI.

16. Neoclassical movement based on Greek ideals: HELLENISM. Greece's official name is Hellenic Republic.

21. Lace securers: EYELETS.

23. Snow coaster: SLED.

25. "Teach Your Children" group, initially: CSNY. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

27. Frazzles: JARS.

29. Connery and McCartney: SIRS.

30. Tour-organizing gp.: PGA.

31. Highway event?: ROBBERY. Highway robbery.

32. Genetic variations: ALLELES. We had this before.

33. Existence: BEING.

34. Dutch Golden Age artist: STEEN. Jan. Here's his "Skittle Players Outside an Inn".

37. Unit of volume: GALLON.

38. Silo contents: GRAIN.

39. Backin': FER.

40. Numbered works: OPUSES.

41. Confute: REBUT.

42. Words preceding bad news: I FEAR.

48. On the open deck: TOPSIDE.

51. Countdown follower: NEW YEAR.

52. Desire: YEN.

53. Narnia antagonist: WITCH.

54. Large shoulder bag: HOBO. Pretty in red.

55. "Just the __ Us": 1981 and 1998 hit: TWO OF.

57. Rodeo challenge: BRONC.

61. Director Riefenstahl: LENI.

65. Decree: ORDAIN.

66. "Bye now": SO LONG.

67. Insurance company with a longtime Peanuts-based ad campaign: METLIFE.

68. Like Weird Al songs: PARODIC.

69. "Little" car of song: GTO.

70. Orange __ tea: PEKOE.

71. "Meet John Doe" director: CAPRA (Frank)

72. Facetious five?: A E I O U. Just the letters in "Facetious".

74. "Agreed": ROGER THAT.

75. In-box contents: EMAIL. All your comments go to my Gmail.

77. Sag: DROOP.

78. Tongue twister merchandise: SEASHELLS.

79. Soil-smoothing tools: HARROWS.

81. PC shortcut key: ALT.

86. Party time, casually: B-DAY.  Hello, Trubrit, are you still reading our blog? Happy birthday to you!

84. Borodin's "Prince __": IGOR.

87. Think about: SLEEP ON.

89. Ancient couples carrier: ARK.

91. Made after taxes: NETTED.

92. TV show with mashups: GLEE. Seems like ages ago.

94. Official records: ACTA.

97. Flash of light: GLEAM.

100. Adjutant: AIDE.

101. Barfly's binge: TOOT.

102. Old character: RUNE.

103. Org. with an annual open tournament: USGA. No US Open in Minnesota since 1991. We did attend Women's US Open though.

104. Trendy berry: ACAI.

105. Nevada slots spot: RENO.

107. Town name word suggesting higher elev.: HTS. Heights.

108. Ky. neighbor: IND.

109. Draw a bead on: AIM.

110. Bit of baby talk: COO.

111. Coll. major: ENG.

C.C.