THE WEEKLY STANDARD's Nick Swezey turned in a dominant performance on Jeopardy! last night, pulling in a total of $32,001. In a key moment early in the contest, reigning Champ Shad Small was flummoxed by a question dealing with a "type of [weather] front with little or no movement." Swezey, showing a deep knowledge of climate, moved in for the kill. “What is a stationary front?” asked the new champ. Later in the show, Swezey surprised even his own fans by deftly moving down the board in a category called "Royalty and Ballet."

Swezey was in the lead heading into Final Jeopardy! and the category was "Quotations from B.C." He bet big, banking on his well-spent undergraduate years at Johns Hopkins to carry him through to the finish. The answer:

This work says, "Victorious warriors win first & then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first & then seek to win"

Of all the fortune cookie wisdom in The Art of War, the producers at Jeopardy! chose that gem. Hmmm... No matter, Swezey nailed it and we like his chances of repeating tonight. The Tournament of Champions awaits.