Swarthmore's Arthur Chu wins, corrects Trebek on 'Jeopardy!'
Chu will face a formidable foe in Julia Collins in the finals.
As if people don't already think Arthur Chu is smug enough.
Last night, the Swarthmore grad not only made the finals of Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions, but he got to correct host Alex Trebek.
The Final Jeopardy category was "French literature," and the answer was this:
Its first chapter recalls "the little scallop-shell of pastry, so richly sensual under its severe, religious folds."
After the first two players guessed wrong, Chu -- eyeroll, please -- elected to give a translation, In Search of Lost Time, instead of the usual English title, Remembrance of Things past ("a forced Shakespeare reference," Chu tweeted.)
Not seen on TV, according to Chu, was Trebek's faux pas.
Much more genteel than the animated video that had Chu exploding Trebek's head.
The actual author, in case you didn't know, is mentioned in a tweet by Ben Ingram, who'll compete today (locally at 7 p.m. on 6ABC) to be the final finalist:
According to J-Archive.com, Chu, who lives near Cleveland, won handily, giving 25 correct responses and only a single wrong one, while cashing in on two Daily Doubles.
On Monday, Princeton student Terry O'Shea came close, but ironically lost when Julia Collins, the winningest woman ever on the show, knew that Wellington, New Zealand, was the world capital named for a soldier who'd been to Madrid.
O'Shea's two biggest wins came on clues involving geography (not islands, as previously stated). One about Gibraltar won a college championship. The other, about a tunnel connecting Hokaiddo and Honshu in Japan, won a spot in the semifinals.
If Collins had been wrong, O'Shea would have won Monday.
The match-up will pit two of the strongest players ever. Collins, who's from Illinois, is No. 2 all-time for wins in a row (20) and money won playing regular games ($429,000). Chu, who won 11 straight regular-season games, is fourth in non-tournament winnings, with $298,200.
Whoever prevails in the two-day finals, airing Thursday and Friday, will collect $250,000.
Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com. Follow @petemucha on Twitter.