| TAMBOURINE | Former ANC leader, like a bear with no small drum (10) |
| TAMBOUR | Drum seen when former ANC leader comes to old city (7) |
| MBEKI | ANC leader who succeeded Nelson Mandela as South Africa's President, Thabo ... |
| BRICS | Multination org. named for its first five members (its '23 summit included da Silva, Lavrov, Modi, Xi, and the ANC leader) |
| COELACANTH | Possibly a lost chance with no small fish (10) |
| RHETORICAL | After other changes racial movement loses American leader like Martin Luther King (10) |
| SHORTTEMPERED | By the sound of it, Kurt is fortified in a steely way - is that why he's like a bear with a sore head? (5-8) |
| SORE | Like a bear with a ___ head: very irritable? |
| URSINE | Like a bear with a sore head to go into water (6) |
| QUICKTEMPERED | Swift, occasionally works in office, in hospital and in the press, like a bear with a sore head (5-8) |
| SISTERLY | Nurse left with youth leader like a sibling (8) |
| FATHERLY | Overweight, that girl left with youth leader like a parent (8) |
| SHEIKH | Title held by a religious leader like a Sufi master |
| SOREHEAD | Is this disgruntled person like a bear with one? (8) |
| OILED | Worked without leader, like a smooth running machine (5) |
| LIKE | ___ a bear with a sore head : very irritable? |
| ACRIMONY | A bloody year, with no small ill-feeling (8) |
| TEXAN | Briefly communicate with a national leader like LBJ |
| ASORE | "As savage as a bear with - head": Marryat |
| ZEBRA | Finally, could be a bear with stripes |
