The timer might be wrong, it was kind of a late minute addition :)
The letters should conform to your fingers on the keyboard ( QWEF for the left hand, JIOP for the right hand ), and correspond to 8 tentacles, one every 30 degrees in a 240 degree arc pointed down, the right letters are "Right below you" and the green ones are to the sides and up, at maximum coverage. The entire system is very clunky, and should have worked differently, but that's all i got in 3 hours :)