“Brings up a prior topic … or a hint to making sense of the answers to this puzzle's starred clues”

Schoolroom that serves as a studio

Original airer of "Doctor Who"

Covenant

Give a lashing

Whom Will Smith played in a 2001 sports biopic

Son of Zeus and Hera

Sweetener in some diet sodas

*Cat breed named after an Indonesian island from which it didn't originate

Places to carry out some takeout orders, for short?