"Offhand I don't know of any masochists that would find this kind of puzzle fun, but I guess they must exist somewhere."
I managed to get through it without the walkthrough, but how nerve racking!! You were warned that time was running out by the bouncer looking at you and then you backed out of the puzzle and went back in. It stayed as was so you could proceed, but still nerve racking as already stated. If you didn't back out after he looked at you, then the puzzle had to be started over (you know, after you resurrected yourself from being thrown in the water).