Puzzle Tour Help
Hints and answer-checking for our self-guided puzzle tour The Spirit of Salem.
This page is intended to help active tour players, and contains some spoilers for the tour. If you are looking for general information about the tour such as availability, price, recommended group size, etc., please visit this page instead.
Head to Ropes Mansion to begin the tour. After reading the introduction, turn the page to begin. The Map and Location Index are located on the last two pages of the booklet.
While we’ve provided a map at the back of your booklet, you are more than welcome to also use your phone to navigate your way to your next location! Consult the “Where should we be?” in each section below if you need additional help.
The “What should we look at?” under each section below should help get you started on each puzzle.
No need to ask us twice! Use the “Check Answer” link in the appropriate section below to check your answer in a spoiler-free way where possible. If you aren’t worried about spoilers or for any reason you just want the answer(s), scroll to the bottom of this page and use the Section Answers dropdowns at your own discretion.
The Ropes Mansion is located at 318 Essex St. You do not need to enter the building.
Stand in front of the Ropes Mansion and examine the street-facing side of the house. Compare what you see to your booklet.
Pay close attention to the windows right above the front door.
Tip: Enter your answer as a numeral (0-9)
The Hawthorne Hotel is located at the corner of Essex St and Hawthorne Blvd. You should be on the Hawthorne Blvd side of the building.
You should compare the front of the building with the cipher wheels. You may have an easier time looking at it from the sidewalk on the other side of Hawthorne Blvd.
These shapes on the cipher (there are multiples of both) are relevant to this puzzle:
Check the back of all the cipher wheels. If your wheels are still attached to each other upon removing them, separate them from each other now.
Hold the circle you removed up to a light and see what is revealed within.
The Witch Trials Memorial is located at the Charter St. Cemetery.
We encourage you to take a moment to appreciate the gravity of the history enshrined in this place. When you are ready to continue the tour, follow the instructions to remove the envelope completely from the booklet.
Check the back of the envelope for a tarot card.
The Witch House is located at 310 Essex St. You do not need to enter the building.
Stand on the Essex St sidewalk and look at the street-facing side of the house.
Pay attention to the rooflines in each part of the image and compare them to the rooflines around each window on the actual building. One of the top floor windows is your answer.
The Alexander Graham Bell plaque is attached to the YMCA building located on the corner of Essex St and Sewall St. You do not need to enter the building.
The plaque is on the Essex St side of the YMCA building. Compare the details of the plaque to your booklet.
Align the paper versions of the rosettes with the matching rosettes on the plaque at about eye-level with the text-side of the ribbon facing yourself. Does the ribbon highlight a specific letter?
You won’t need the ribbon again, you can stuff it back in the book, throw it away in the next trash can you see, wear it as a stylish choker, or anything else you like (just don’t litter, please!)
Tip: Enter your answer as a capital letter (A-Z)!
The garden is located behind Ropes Mansion at 318 Essex St. If there is daylight and the garden gate is open, you should proceed into the garden. Otherwise, turn to Section 8 in the booklet and proceed from there.
Follow the path to the center of the garden, see your booklet for further instructions.
The point at which your view matches the image in the book should be next to the trellis that 12 o’clock on the sundial points to, or this spot on your garden map:
Tip: Enter your answer as a capital letter (A-Z)!
The East India Square Fountain is on Essex street next to the Witch City Mall entrance. If the fountain is inaccessible due to snow or other reasons, proceed to Section 17 instead.
Search the real fountain to find what’s missing from your booklet’s depiction of the fountain. You are allowed (and encouraged!) to walk on the dry surfaces within the fountain itself.
The thing you're looking for is on the deepest layer of the fountain. If you're playing in the summer, it may be under the water. It will be easiest to spot if you walk into the fountain, or look from the long side between the fountain and the mall.
Accurately place your tiny version of the circle (printed on the transparent piece you were instructed to bring with you) within the booklet, it will highlight your answer.
Tip: Enter your answer as a capital letter (A-Z)!
The tarot card can be placed within the dotted lines on the Halloween flyer.
Once you’ve placed the tarot card, does the design on the back of the card point towards anything on the flyer? Does a message form?
If not, check that the word on the card itself is oriented the same way as the text on the page.
Remember to check the index! See if what you’ve found matches any names found there.
Artists’ Row is across Front St. from Old Town Hall. It’s a walkway lined with stalls and shops.
Look for symbols on the ground and compare them to your booklet.
Identify the missing symbols (represented by question marks) and use the key to translate them into letters. Do the letters spell a word?
Tip: Enter your answer in ALL CAPS. Your answer should be four letters.
The Bewitched statue is located at Lapin park at the crossroads of Essex St and Washington St.
Look for shapes that are found both on the statue and on the spinning cipher wheels. Align the shapes on the cipher as they appear on the statue (from top to bottom).
These are the shapes on the cipher that are relevant to this puzzle:
The puzzle can be solved with or without the cloud, but your answer may be more clear if you do include the cloud.
Look at Samantha’s ring, her locket, what she’s sitting on, what the statue is mounted to, and the shapes embedded into the pavement beneath her.
The Armory Plaques are located on the pavement adjoining the National Parks Visitor Center.
Certain plaques can be found on the ground and on the cipher at the front of your booklet. Align them left to right as they appear on the ground. For this puzzle, disregard the shape at the center of the cipher.
These shapes on the cipher are relevant to this puzzle:
The Axelrod Walkway is at the end of the Peabody Essex Museum, connecting Charter St and Essex St.
At the Essex St end of the walkway, there’s a sign.
Use the mirror on the back of the tarot card to see what’s on the underside of the sign.
Old Town Hall is located at 32 Derby Square, between Front St and the pedestrian section of Essex St. It can be accessed from either street.
After removing the inner lining of the envelope at the back of your booklet, you should see a tarot card. There is nothing you need to do here before turning to Section 21 (but we do recommend checking out the vendors if one of the farmers’ or artists’ markets is going on while you’re there!)
The Common is the large park located next to the Hawthorne Hotel. The bandstand is the domed, grey structure near the middle of the park.
Compare your view from inside the bandstand to your booklet. See if you can align the shapes correctly.
Congratulations! You’ve gotten the hard mode for this puzzle. Pay attention to the orientation of the stairs in the drawing of the bandstand. By walking around the bandstand and looking away from it, you should be able to solve the puzzle as though you were inside the bandstand looking out.
There is a sculptural shape of a certain fruit on top of the bandstand. Somewhere in the booklet is an image of the same fruit, which you should find and scratch off now. Hint: you’ve probably checked this page a lot in the last hour.
If you're having trouble getting a good look at the top of the bandstand:
The piece of the booklet you’ve just removed opens to reveal the end of the game :)
The tarot card’s corners can be aligned within the jagged lines in a few different positions.
When you’ve aligned the tarot card’s corners correctly, the design on the back of the tarot card will create an unbroken path from one letter to another.
Look at the back of the card and find the vine that connects from one edge to the opposite edge. Line the card up in the appropriate position to connect one end of this vine with the letter representing the location where you received the Tarot card (you’re probably still at this location).
Tip: Enter your answer as a capital letter (A-Z). Your answer should not be the letter of your current or previous location.
Missing Oval windows: 1
Missing Circular windows: 3
Missing Chimneys: 2
Total: 6
From left to right, flat sides down: Triangle, Triangle, Half-Circle, Triangle, Triangle
The visible text should say "Tear Me Out"
7
18
10
E
G
I
"Past Black Veil Graham Bell" = Alexander Graham Bell Plaque
FIVE
From top to bottom: Rectangle, Heart, Cloud, Oval, Stars
The text visible in the cipher should read "Section 19"
2
Starting from stairs and going clockwise: War Memorial, Witch Museum, Arch, Flagpole
The text visible in the cipher should read "Find and scratch, thing in book, and seen on top of..."
B
