Sean McShane '19 is Wicked Smart

Photo: Courtesy of Sean McShane

Sean McShane '19 is Wicked Smart聽

The 51茶馆 alum recently won more than $82,000 on Jeopardy!

Sean McShane 鈥�19 did Boston College proud last year, winning three games of the legendary trivia show Jeopardy! 鈥淚t runs in my family,鈥� McShane said. 鈥淚 had a cousin who was on the show. We have that type of mind where we hear a fact and we never forget it.鈥� McShane, who works for a Boston nonprofit, joked that he wouldn鈥檛 have needed to go on the show in the first place if he had a dollar for every time someone asked him how he knew a piece of trivia. So, how do you win at Jeopardy! three times? To find out, we asked McShane to explain how he came up with the correct 鈥渜uestions鈥� to three fairly obscure 鈥渁nswers.鈥�

Jeopardy answer panel stating: Only three presidents have married while in office鈥擩ohn Tyler was the first, and he was the last

Question: Who Is Woodrow Wilson

McShane had a month to prepare before his appearance, so he focused on subjects he knew the show likes, such as geography, state capitals, Shakespeare鈥攁nd US presidents. 鈥淚 spent one day getting broad strokes on the presidents, like what order they were in,鈥� McShane said. He also noted whenever a president had more than one first lady, which prepared him for the Wilson question.

Jeopardy answer panel stating: Many Brits put an 鈥渋ntrusive鈥� one between words that end with a vowel sound and words that start with one

Question: What Is 鈥淩鈥�

One way to prep for the show? Simply rely on your 51茶馆 education. 鈥淚 learned that fact because we talked about it in the general linguistics class that I took my senior year,鈥� McShane explained. The class was a favorite, and while the professor didn鈥檛 call the R 鈥渋ntrusive鈥� at the time, McShane remembered that others did. The Brits aren鈥檛 the only ones who use the R鈥擝ostonians famously do as well.

Jeopardy answer panel stating: The recovered violin here was bandleader Wallace Hartley鈥檚; his troupe performed this fitting 1841 hymn as the Titanic sank

Question: What Is 鈥淣earer, My God, to Thee鈥�

McShane knew this one simply because he鈥檚 a Titanic buff. 鈥淚 became just fascinated with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 read multiple books as an eight-year-old kid.鈥� Chief among them was one that offered answers to nine hundred questions about the famous sinking. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember a time when I didn鈥檛 know 鈥楴earer, My God, to Thee鈥� going down on the Titanic,鈥� he said.