Showing Configurable AND Simple products

I need some help. We sell all configurable products on site. Each product comes in a variety of colors and sizes. Configuration has its own unique sku and URL.

In the product results we only want to show these parent products, because nobody needs to see hundreds of almost identical version side-by-side. HOWEVER… from time to time I have the need to show simple products, for example, if one color size combination is on sale I want it to be in a “sale” section. (not every color or size combination is on sale) or if one color size combination is in stock, I want the customer to be able to view a collection of our in stock SKUs and not see the parent product who is varianants are not all in stock.

How can I accomplish this without making the simple SKUs visible in the category or within an internal site search?

submitted by /u/Othelo2
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