Unnecessarily Unproductive? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ulysses

The "Iliad" is set during the siege of Troy. The companion work attributed to Homer is "Odyssey" which tells of the ten-year journey home of the Greek hero Odysseus after the fall of Troy. Odysseus appears in both poems.

Ulysses is the Roman name for Odysseus and is also the name of a novel by James Joyce, first serialised between 1918 and 1920, then published in 1922. Joyce's book covers a day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin. A series of parallels are drawn between the book and the "Odyssey". The book was banned for a number of years on obscenity grounds.

Answer: Ulundi

The war was started by the British trying to replicate the confederation process that had taken place in Canada under the British North America Act 1867. The first invading army under Lord Chelmsford, however, was defeated at Isandlwana in January 1879.

A fresh invasion army was prepared. Chelmsford ignored his orders to hand over to his replacement (and various peace offers from the Zulu king Cetshwayo) in an attempt to regain his reputation through victory over the Zulu. He won his decisive victory at Ulundi.

Answer: Uguisu

A favourite with the Japanese for its singing talent, it is more often heard than seen due to its drab colouring. The bird goes from a low chirping in winter to the hoohokekyo song in spring. It is one of the early signs of spring for the Japanese.

The bird's dried guano (bird poop) has been used for centuries as a beauty treatment. Used by the Koreans for removing dye or stains from silk garments such as kimonos, the Japanese also applied it to remove the heavy make-ups used by geishas and kabuki actors. The main components are urea and guanine, an amino acid which creates a shimmery iridescent effect in cosmetics. Caged birds fed on organic seed are used to produce the product, which is called 'uguisu no fun' (or 'nightingale faeces') in Japan.

Answer: Umber

Umber is a reddish-brown pigment, darker than earth pigments like sienna and ochre. Its name comes from Umbria, the area in Italy where the pigment was originally obtained. The actual colour varies, depending on the amount of iron oxide and manganese oxide in the pigment.

Probably one of the earliest pigments used, it has been found in Neolithic cave paintings. Although natural umber can still be obtained, synthetic versions are now often used.

Answer: Under Milk Wood

The 1954 play was commissioned by the BBC. In it we learn of the dreams and thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub. Although it sounds Welsh, the source of the name is found by reversing it.

The ideas behind the play had been germinating for more than 20 years. He, however, only finished the play as the actors were putting on their make-up for the first performance in 1953. He intended revising the draft manuscript given to the BBC but died at the age of 39 before he could do so.

The other authors were Anton Chekhov ("Uncle Vanya"), Thomas More ("Utopia") and Scott Westerfeld ("Uglies").

Answer: Uzbekistan

The Republic of Uzbekistan is bordered by five landlocked countries in central Asia, making it one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world. The other is Liechtenstein. It is a dry country with around 10% of land area under intensive agriculture. The rest is either the desert or mountainous.

Large Soviet irrigation schemes in pursuit of greater cotton production has resulted in the Aral Sea shrinking by more than 90% in area since the 1960s. It was once the world's fourth largest lake. The eastern basin is now called the Aralkum Desert. Pesticide-contaminated dust from the desert has been found on Greenland glaciers and in Norwegian forests.

Answer: UB40

British reggae band UB40 was formed in 1978 and took its name from the UK government's Department of Employment form for obtaining unemployment benefit. They have achieved chart success with their versions of such songs as "Red Red Wine" and, with Chrissie Hynde, "I Got You Babe".

Answer: Ugli

The ugli fruit is from the citrus family. It is a hybrid and a form of tangelo first found in Jamaica. It gets its name from the unappealing appearance of the fruit.

Answer: Urenology

You probably have to answer this one by deduction. Ufology is tied to unidentified flying objects, urology involves study of the urinary system and uranology is about the heavens. If rust moulds are your thing, then urenology is for you.

Answer: Uwharrie Mountains

The Uwharrie Mountains are located in North Carolina, USA. About 500 million years old, these former coastal mountains now lie over 240 km from the coast. Most of this area was designated a US National Forest in 1961 by President Kennedy. Having been cleared for timber and farming, the land has now largely reforested naturally.