Complete Clue List
Across
1. Prominent player for the Memphis Grizzlies (First word inits., 3,4)
8. Active during the night, like some bear species (9)
10. Yearly period of up to 100 days when some bear species undergo slowed metabolic activity (11)
12. Captures a bear (4)
13. Venomous Egyptian snake (3)
14. Genetic info carriers (pl. init., 4)
16. Deep cut, possible consequence of a bear encounter (4)
17. Bear info, possibly gathered from 56A (mil. abbr., 5)
18. Former General Motors financial arm, sounding like part of Apple Computer? (init., 4)
20. The Monkees' "____ Believer" (2,1; first word contr.)
21. Twelve, in short (3)
22. IOC code for European country, home to the Marsican brown bear (3)
23. Stomach muscles, briefly (3)
24. Kind of acid (5)
26. Prevent (3)
27. "There's ____ in 'team'" (2,1)
28. Warm-blooded vertebrates, including bears (7)
30. Lodge (3)
31. A task, very well done (3,3)
33. Confession from (40D) Bear when asked who had taken the pic-a-nic basket (2,3,1)
35. Actress Williams, active 1962-1995, but not singer Nelson (3)
36. Children's author ____ Bear shares her first name with actress, Ms. West (3)
37. Follow, as rules; something (40D) Bear struggled to do (5,2)
41. I BEAR TO this Spanish word meaning "open" (anag., 7)
44. River in England (var.) OR three-time All-Star pitcher Robb ____ (3)
45. Shuffle (7)
47. On a bear's head, each of these appendages is often small and rounded (sing., 3)
48. Family member, informally; also one of 24D's porridge eaters (3)
49. Pestering people (7)
50. Expire (3)
51. Continent, home to several bear species including "Ursus thibetanus" and 16D (4)
53. Formal ceremonies (5)
54. Feels unwell, applicable to people and animals (4)
55. 2022 Platinum Jubilee afternoon event featuring Paddington Bear and Queen Elizabeth II (3)
56. GPS collars used to track bears in the wild (pl. abbr., 3)
Down
1. Wealthy ones (4)
2. Dating letters (init., 3), although "mya" (million years ago) is used for ursine ancestors
3. Haphazardly (2,6)
4. A flare, prominence or coronal mass ejection (3,5)
5. Four-sided geometric figures (8)
6. Army member, target of 24A acid (3)
7. Surprise attack (4)
8. Approaching (4)
9. Descriptive of a bear's snout (4)
10. Carefully tastes water source (3,1,3)
11. Country in southern Africa (capital Windhoek) with no native bears (7)
12. 16D's favourite food (6)
15. Devils or fiends (6)
16. Bear-like herbivorous mammal from China and Tibet (5,5)
19. Descriptive of polar bears who mainly feed on other animals (10)
24. Youngest of three porridge eaters who encountered Goldilocks (4,4)
25. Bears are adept runners, ____ and swimmers; (ability to ascend trees) (8)
28. Term describing today's bears, as distinct from their forbears (6)
29. One way to the top? (6)
32. One of the Beverly Hillbillies who might have shot a bear before finding "black gold" (3)
34. Teensy (3)
38. Wild animal, like most bears (5)
39. Unaffiliated musical group, such as "Boy & Bear" (5)
40. Jellystone Park denizen, smarter than the average bear (4)
41. "Zip-____-Doo-Dah" song syllables (var., 1-3)
42. Started again, from the beginning (5)
43. On bears, these bodily appendages are generally short (5)
46. Troop group (abbr., 3)
52. International support group dealing with addiction (init., 2)
54. Sloth bear with three sizeable claws on each forefoot (2)