Utterly Useless? The "U" Quiz

Answer: Undertow

Well, there are uniforms and undercover characters, and crime is ubiquitous in her novels, but in this case the U stands for "Undertow". Despite that, there's no body washing up from the sea... but yes, there are bodies. Not all human, either. You'll have to read the book to know more!

Answer: William Bernard Ullathorne

William Bernard Ullathorne (1806-1889) was a Benedictine bishop and missionary in Australia. Some of his other works are "The Endowments of Man", "The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues" and "Christian Patience".

Horst Uhr wrote "Lovis Corinth" in 1990 (University of California Press).

Nicholas Udall (1505-1556) had only one publication, "The Dramatic Writings of Nicholas Udall" (printed in 1906 by the English Drama Society).

Friedrich Ueberweg (1826-1871) wrote two volumes of "A History of Philosophy, From Thales to the Present Time".

Answer: Uganda

Uganda became independent of Britain in 1962. Dictator Idi Amin was responsible for those deaths, and a later civil war took another 100,000. Its major industry is agriculture, with coffee being a predominant crop, yet it has a great deal of potential mineral wealth, including oil.

The Ukraine, once part of the Soviet Union, was once the most powerful state in Europe. Once known as the Breadbasket of the Soviet Union, the country has a solid agricultural industry and is also a source of coal and steel, its top export. It lacks energy sources, though, and occasional disputes with Russia have led to Russia cutting off energy exports to the Ukraine.

Uruguay is tucked between Argentina and Brazil. While agriculture employs about 10% of the population, its major industries are food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles and chemicals.

Uzbekistan, once part of the Soviet Union, became independent in 1991. While part of the Soviet Union it was farmed heavily for cotton, and the overuse of agricultural chemicals has left a legacy of poisoned waterways and water depletion. It remains a major cotton producer in the world, and also exports gold, natural gas and oil.

Answer: Ustra Castle

Ustra Castle in southern Bulgaria was captured by Simeon the Great, then returned to the Byzantine empire... and back and forth again between Bulgarian and Byzantine for the next two centuries.

Ushiberd was an Iron Age fortress near Ushi in Armenia. The nearby settlement was populated during the period 2000 BCE to about 1AD.

Uzhgorod Castle is in the Ukraine. Construction started in the 13th century by the Drugeth family. It remains largely intact despite two fires.

Urquhart Castle sits on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland, on a site where artifacts have been dated back to around 500 AD, the time of St Columba. The current structure (now in ruins) probably was built around 1230 AD, and was captured by Edward I of England in 1298.

Answer: Umbrella Dance

Oddly enough, it's the Umbrella Dance (according to streetswing.com, I'm really not making these up!). Even odder, it originated in the 1880s. It is also known as Tari Payong.

Utushka is a Russian dance, Urpa's origin is unknown and the Urkel dance is named for the character Urkel on the 1990s American television series "Family Matters".

Answer: Ulch

Ulch has about 730 speakers and is taught in schools. There is even an Ulch dictionary. Those who speak it generally also speak Russian. It is found spoken in the area around the Amur River, and especially in Bogorodskove.

Urat is found in Papua New Guinea, with around 6000 speakers, mostly adults. Use is decreasing. Uri is also found there, but by 1991 there were only 2500 speakers of that language.

Ukit is spoken in a small section of Malaysia, by only about 120 people.

Answer: uvite

Uvite is a tourmaline, found in Sri Lanka and New York, amongst other places. Currently its only function is as a specimen in collections; usually a dark green to black prismatic crystal with some white streaking, it can also be clear, brown or white.

Ulexite is Hydrated Sodium Calcium Borate Hydroxide, uvarovite is Calcium Chromium Silicate and uraninite is Uranium Oxide.

Answer: Utricularia

Utricularia is approximately 224 species of a carnivorous plant found in wet areas of every continent except Antarctica. Each plant has a 'bladder', shaped a bit like a lima bean, with a trap which, when triggered, sweeps its prey into the bladder using negative pressure to ensure the prey does not escape. Some species of the plant can even trap small tadpoles.

Uvularia is commonly called Merrybells, Bellflowers or Bellworts. A woodland plant, its name comes from its flowers, which hang down from the leaves and look rather like a human uvula.

Uebelmannia is a cactus, rather round in shape with spines on ribs. Uniola is a genus of grass

Answer: Juan de Urrede

Juan de Urrede, sometimes styled Johannes de Wreede, was probably born around 1451 and died around 1482. It is believed he lived in Flanders and possibly also in Spain. He probably served King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516), as Flanders was then part of the Spanish kingdom.

Leopoldo de Urcullu probably lived in the early 1800s, but almost nothing is known about this Spanish composer for the guitar.

Jos Maria Usanizaga was born in 1887 in San Sebastian, capital of the Basque region of Spain. He studied in France under Vincent d'Indy, who may have influenced his use of Basque themes in his music. He died at an early age in 1915 of tuberculosis.

Joakim Unander is a contemporary Swedish composer. His main contribution to music is his conducting of Swedish orchestras.

Answer: Ununtrium

Ununtrium is element 113 - and Ununtrium was given as a temporary name. It was found as a result of fusion reactions, and only eight atoms have ever been observed. It is expected that should enough ever be observed together to form a mineral that it will be soft and silvery.

Ununoctium (Uuo) has been the temporary name for element 118. While it is classified as a noble gas, only four atoms have been identified, and it is believed that should enough be found together, it would be a metallic solid.

Ununpentium (Uup) has been the temporary name for element 115. In this case only four atoms have been identified.

I made up unuterium...