Is this an allusion?

Question

"The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind of saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue."

Since their referring to Sports Illustrated?

Answer 1

An allusion is an indirect reference to something else (usually a work of art, like a film or piece of literature). It is up to the reader to make the full connection to the thing that is being referred to.  You have not "alluded" to Sports Illustrated, since you referred to it directly by name.

Something like the following demonstrates an allusion:

"She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. But maintaining her weight was a constant battle, as chocolates were her Achilles heel."  -- The allusion here is "Achilles heel" which alludes to Homer's "Iliad."  The reader is presumed to know about Achilles and how his heel was the only part of his body vulnerable to injury.  In the context of the sentence above, we are saying that chocolate is the girl's weakness; it's the one thing that threatens to increase her waistline.

Answer 2

yep.