When the situation gets out of the grey area that's just regular old sexual interference/assault. Attempted rape means nothing at all actually happened, which is why it is not often successfully convicted. But if you stood up in a court of law in my area and said, "My Lord, I was trying to sell her an encyclopedia set," the judge would say, "Sure, and I was born yesterday."

I should clarify that when I said it would hold up in court I meant that the charge would be valid. Given the number of committed rapes that are successfully convicted (about 1 in 16), I would have to have pretty solid evidence of the guy's intent in order to have him convicted. But by the time I got the case to court, the guy's reputation could be fairly effectively smeared. Which is why it's important that people know that in many places having sex with drunk people is legally rape, and they should find out which places those are before they follow that advice.

Getting a person drunk in order to have sex with them is a crime in my jurisdiction because drunk people are not legally able to consent ("I was drunk too" is not a valid defense, either, fyi). If I could make the case that the person in question were plying me with alcohol in order to have sex with me that would be textbook attempted rape. It's a big "if", making the case, because the case is hypothetical and so is the evidence. But if the hypothetical PUA in question attempted to give me the impression that he was drinking as well while arranging with the bartender to maintain his mental faculties, that would be quite incriminating, and would show pre-meditation.

In any case it's a good idea for potential 'pick up artists' to know that in many areas having sex with drunk people in rape, and they should maybe just work on improving their ability to gauge which people would be likely to consent to having sex with them while they are still in possession of their faculty to consent.

(And no, in my jurisdiction it is not legal to bet on the outcome of a legal proceeding, but it is not illegal to suggest it, so we'll let it slide.)

I agree for the U.S. But I don't know her (or his) jurisdiction.