We have a planitarium in LA; it's where you learn about them planits.
I can't make fun of Eric for spelling, because I suck at it.
I actually felt a little ssorry for him. He had wrote down the letters he saw, and he looked at the pictures (including the correct one), but he didn't see the "H" on the pen and thus didn't have the letters for it. SOmeone on another board said, well if he had the Q then he should automatically have figured it out. But according to the show there were extra letters, so for all he knew the "Q" could have been an extra letter.
Though, I will say, unless there was additional info restricting this. I would have just wrote down each location and then show the guard until I got I right.
Nobody tried this, so I would almost say their had to be a some restriction on it.
Or almost everyone who didn't figure it out immediately (like the BQ,s and Mary) are idiots.