[Rolyb]

That's exactly how I initially set up my gmail on my BB, and it all worked fine. Now, for some reason, the Contacts just stopped syncing, even though all the appropriate boxes are checked and gmail Calendar still syncs. I've uninstalled and reinstalled gmail several times, to no avail. The problem does not appear to be at the gmail (Google) end, as my Kindle Fire syncs gmail contacts just as it should, with the same settings. I'll give it some time, in case I get another suggestion, then, if nothing else works, try resetting my BB to default factory settings and reinstall everything. I do have everything backed up.
In any case, thanks for your suggestion. Too bad that I had already tried that without success.