Okay guys....I've listened to all the tapes in that guys desk (I'm in his tent). I've wound them to the parts I'm supposed to hear for the formula to come up with the combination. I have the combination.....12R, 5L, 20R.....and the [blip] safe does NOT open. I have tried exactly 9 times. (Yeah, I guess that's not a lot, but I'm getting cranky...it's time for dinner.) What am I missing? I've tried doing it a little different each time, you know....being sure to pass zero, then trying it without passing zero. I've made sure the little hand say R when I turn to the right and then has an L on it when I go to do the left....still nothing. It won't open.

Any thoughts on this?

From WT by Walkthrough by MaGtRo and NKuderna

Turn the dial with the T in the hand a couple of revolutions, then stop and with the R in the hand turn the dial to 12 clockwise, stop. With L in the hand turn the dial past the 5 counterclockwise, once then stop the 2nd time you reach 5. With the R in the hand turn the dial to 20 clockwise. A click will be heard if it opens.

Maybe it's that first sentence above that makes the difference(?)

Here's another way of stating what to do - from Tobler's strategy guide, "The Book of the Dead Ends":

Tumble (when the cursor shows a T) the lock several revolutions clockwise, ending at zero to reset the combination.

Next (when the cursor shows an R), turn the dial to the right until you land on 12.

Now (if the cursor shows an L), turn the dial to the left, one full revolution PAST 12, to 5.

Lastly (and if the cursor shows an R), turn the dial to the right to 20.

This was very frustrating for me - even with the above directions it took me a few times to get it right - just like those (blankity-blank) locks in real life!