A: Celeste DiNucci of Phila.Q: Who is 'Jeopardy!' champ?

I'll take big winners for $250,000, Alex.

The answer is: Celeste DiNucci.

The question: Who is the Philadelphia graduate student who parlayed nerves of steel into a whopping Daily Double payment and victory on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions last night?

That set-up may be unfamiliar to the few people who still don't know how TV's Jeopardy! answer-and-question show works after decades on the air, but it was old hat to Queen Village's DiNucci. She edged her nearest competition by a mere $401 to grab the quarter-million-dollar prize among contestants who had already won big once before.

So what if she's finishing up a dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania on Shakespeare and performance theater, and yet didn't know that the Bard's mother was named Arden?

Having bet almost all her money, she used nerves as cold as the "ice shelf" and "permafrost" mentioned in her Daily Double clue and figured out that "I.P.Y." stood for "International Polar Year," and that brought her from way behind to challenge the smug Canadian composer Doug Hicton.

But she didn't know that "What is a burgess?" was the proper question to a Final Jeopardy! answer about colonial government. "When I got it wrong, I thought, 'Oh, well, that's great. I'll still win for $100,000 for second place,' " DiNucci said. Even when all the numbers were added up, she said, "I still didn't believe I was ahead."

But the effusive DiNucci had built up enough credit in the first half of the finals on Thursday to beat Hicton and his folded arms and pocket handkerchief.

DiNucci watched the show last night with about two dozen friends on a big screen at the Dark Horse Pub on Second Street. While most knew the outcome in advance, it didn't curb their enthusiasm. They cheered when she offered her first correct question: "What is gorgonzola?"

And they went wild when later she came up with: "What is Polar?"

Wearing the same floral blouse that she wore on the the show, and cracking wise as she sipped a glass of red wine, DiNucci was a gracious and witty host to the group.

No one was surprised by her success.

"She's irrepressible," said Mike Barsanti, an associate museum director who was in graduate school with DiNucci.

"A lightning-flash genius," he added, ". . . with a trove of trivia knowledge."

And apparently a great person to be around.

"She's smart, sharp, funny, and a delightful person," said Jane Boyd, who used to work with her at the American Philosophical Society.

"She's fun," said Mary Teeling. "She has a spontaneous sense of humor at all times."

"Formidably knowledgeable," said Allen Crawford. "She's incredible."

DiNucci took it all in stride, laughing, smiling, and raising her arms over her head when she was declared the winner at the end of the show.

"I have a down payment on whatever I do for the rest of my life," she said.

Born and raised in Portland, Ore., DiNucci, 46, came to Philadelphia to attend graduate school 10 years ago.

"It's a little embarrassing I'm not finished," she said, but understandable, since she has spent hundreds of hours studying for Jeopardy!

In addition to her studies, DiNucci has been working for cultural nonprofits in Philadelphia and hopes to continue even after she's rich, famous and a Ph.D.

Her first goal: to finish the dissertation by the end of the year. Then, just like last time she won, a nice vacation to Tuscany.

I'll take pasta, with really good Chianti, Alex.