| FRANKZAPPA | An orb-weaving spider with black markings resembling a mustache was named after this musician |
| ARGIOPE | Small genus of orb-weaving spiders (7) |
| ERA | "That mustache was ___-appropriate!!" (Captain Holt, defending his '70s hair choices) |
| SPIDER | Orb-weaving or funnel-web, eg (6) |
| LIBRETTO | Operatic text's title: "Orb Weaving" (8) |
| ELIHUYALE | A US university was named after this president of an East India Company settlement, which became Madras |
| SMEW | A type of duck, the male of which has a white plumage with black markings (4) |
| ALBI | A 13th-century crusade against the Cathars was named after this city in southern France |
| OCELOT | Medium-sized wildcat of Central and South America having a tan coat with black markings; Felis pardalis (6) |
| NORFOLK | A southwestern Pacific island was named after this English county |
| HENRIETTA | The US state of Maryland was named after this wife of Charles I of England, Princess ... Maria |
| MARYSOMERVILLE | One of the first women's colleges of Oxford University was named after this Scots mathematician (4,10) |
| LARRYBIRD | Twitter’s old logo was named after this basketball star |
| JACKRUSSELL | A small short-legged terrier having a white coat with tan and/or black markings (4,7) |
| ORLANDO | The Canada-based project to collect the history of women's writing in the British Isles was named after this Virginia Woolf novel |
| VESPUCCI | America was named after this explorer (8) |
| FIREBALL | An orb of lightning; a sphere of flames or burning gases; a bright exploding meteor, aka a bolide; thus a human dynamo or powerhouse (8) |
| PRINCE | This musician changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993; it was both a creative lark and an unsuccessful attempt to escape contract obligations |
| ERMINE | Stoat in its white winter coat, or its fur (or imitation) with black markings used for ceremonial or royal robes (6) |
| LADYBUG | Small red beetle with black markings |
