| U.S. ally whose capital has the letters U-S-A in the middle of its name: Abbr. | 78 |
| U.S. city whose name is pronounced differently from its foreign namesake | 72 |
| U.S. defensive midfielder ejected in the semis of the 2007 Women's World Cup | 80 |
| U.S. official whose office has been vacant for more than nine of the last 50 years | 82 |
| U.S. President who inaugurated baseball's 7th inning stretch, allegedly | 75 |
| U.S. stealth bomber (usually written with a numeral, but how about a little creative license?) | 94 |
| U.S. uncle's "Friday the 13th" character, to a German yes-man? | 76 |
| U2 song about a common affliction for "Spider-Man" performers? | 72 |
| Ukrainian port whose staircase is a setting for "The Battleship Potemkin" | 83 |
| Ukrainian-born actress who was a Bond girl in "Quantum of Solace" | 75 |
| Under [like contemporary crosswords? Become an AVXWORDS.com subscriber today] | 77 |
| Underwear brand that recently ended their relationship with Charlie Sheen | 73 |
| Undesirable society type depicted in Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" | 82 |
| Unexpected development ... or what the answer to each starred clue contains? | 76 |
| Unfinished Henry James work about Gainsborough's "Blue Boy"? | 74 |
| Unfinished Ian Fleming work about James Bond's affection for his boss? | 74 |
| Unfinished Norman Mailer work about strip-searching narcotics smugglers? | 72 |
| Unfortunate acronym for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in terms of being taken seriously | 92 |
| Union perk found in the answer to each clue that's followed by a number | 75 |
| Union that didn't live long to regret endorsing Ronald Reagan in 1980 | 73 |
| Unions in "Monsoon Wedding" and many other romantic Bollywood movies | 78 |
| Unit used regarding celery, since it requires more energy to eat it than it contains | 84 |
| Unit used to jokingly describe celery, since it requires more energy to eat it than it contains | 95 |
| United Artists cofounder whose first feature-length film was "The Kid" in 1921 | 88 |
| United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, familiarly | 72 |
| University of California, Berkeley was the first to have it in their address | 76 |
| Unnominated film (part of a series) about the making of "War and Peace"? | 82 |
| Unnominated film about the recipe that got Hans Christian Andersen arrested? | 76 |
| Until June 25, 2011, its first three digits had geographical significance: Abbr. | 80 |
| Upon reviewing the apprentice's work, the boss said, "Truly you are a __" | 87 |
| Upright, and what's been removed to form this puzzle's theme answers | 76 |
| Upside-down food packaging that made BusinessWeek's Best Products of 2002 list | 82 |
| Upstate NY city that calls itself the "Lake Trout Capital of the World" | 81 |
| Upton Sinclair novel that was the inspiration for "There Will Be Blood" | 81 |
| Urban areas (as hinted at by the circled letters in this puzzle's grid) | 75 |
| Useful type of hitch in a pickup truck, or an undesired part of a social circle | 79 |
| Using both sides with equal frequency (like the letters in this puzzle's answer grid?) | 90 |
| Uta who played Martha in the 1962 premiere of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" | 93 |
| Util. bill usually paid monthly, or in my case, when it's threatened to be shut off | 87 |
| Utterly unlistenable 2011 collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica (I got 90 seconds into it before quitting) | 113 |