Mescalero Apaches refer to this big predator as "my grandfather" & forbid bringing its claws or skins onto their reservation
bears
"Kansas to Emerald City distance in miles, no traffic"; "red slippers from witch, curse?"; "winged monkeys unionized?"
Wizard of Oz
Crop scientist M.S. Swaminathan helped end famine in this country & was known as the father of its green revolution
India
The Corvair from this make that also gave us the Corvette got bad PR from being declared "unsafe at any speed"
Chevrolet/Chevy
A container like the Igloo Party Bar
(6 letters)
a cooler
This river rises in Burgundy about 180 miles southeast of Paris & empties into the English Channel
the Seine
The people of Red Mountain are battling to protect their Nev. homeland at Thacker Pass from an open-pit mine for this battery element
lithium
"Makeup that makes you look like a rock"; "Panem child labor laws"; "are these berries I found poisonous?"
The Hunger Games
Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to take this woman's seat in the U.S. Senate after her death at age 90
Dianne Feinstein
This company's underpowered energy crisis-era Mustang II is, per Motor Trend, "the Mustang everyone loves to hate"
Ford
**DAILY DOUBLE**
Ohio hoopster or offhand attitude
(8 letters)
Cavalier
Viangchan is an alternate spelling of its capital Vientiane
Laos
For 1968 actions at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, in 2022 Dwight Birdwell became the most recent of the 33 recipients of this
Medal of Honor
"Vegas flight for bachelorette but cheap"; "stomach hurts trying on dresses, why?"; "'Hold On' by Wilson Phillips lyrics"
Bridesmaids
Ernie Barnes' 1976 painting "The Sugar Shack" was used in the credits of this dyn-o-mite '70s sitcom
Good Times
J.D. Power: "Even budget buyers have their standards, so as 2021 dawns", this "Grand" Dodge "is finally going to the last roundup"
The Grand Caravan
A merchant of Gouda
(12 letters)
a cheesemonger
It's the country highlighted here
Costa Rica
Mohawk "Skywalkers" helped build much of Manhattan's skyline & this bridge to Fort Lee, New Jersey
George Washington Bridge
"How to get rid of fairy tale creatures in swamp", "can you cook waffles if you have hooves?", "donkey-dragon power couples"
Shrek
CUT is the Beverly Hills steakhouse of this celebrity chef seen here
Wolfgang Puck
An auto writer found the Aztek from this GM brand looked "like a Transformer figure based on a Dust Buster"
Pontiac
An official rebuke in Congress
(7 letters)
a censure
This strait named for an explorer separates Tierra del Fuego from mainland South America
Strait of Magellan
Thunderbird Park in Victoria, B.C. is renowned for its collection of these monumental carvings, some more than 40 feet high
totem poles
"Cabbie weekly salary"; "Charles Palantine campaign woman name"
Taxi Driver
***
She first gained fame for her Vietnam Veterans Memorial; more recently she designed New York City's Museum of Chinese in America
Maya Lin
Road & Track said this 3-letter brand's Gremlin, launched on April Fools' Day 1970, "stretched the definition of car"
AMC/American Motors
***
A squid or nautilus
(10 letters)
a cephalopod
Cuba is about 90 miles south of the US; this 4,200-square-mile island is about 90 miles south of Cuba
Jamaica