The two page letter in this envelope should have 5 underlined words, as shown below. Please underline these if they are not already - they may be significant!

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Enter BLACKBRIM: 1876

If you are new to puzzle games or would like some help getting started, click here!

Use this Companion Guide to check your solutions as you play by selecting Check Solutions & Unlock the Story below. Sometimes, the story will progress as you check your solutions. The Companion Guide can also be used to view hints. Most players use at least a few hints to get through the entire game.

IMPORTANT! Some games may have a small print issue in Part II, envelope 5. Before playing this puzzle, please click here.

• Newspaper Clipping Clue #1

  This puzzle uses a double-sided Skinner Tribune newspaper clipping. If you don't have this item, click here.

  Each of the four articles use long-winded phrases instead of using a more common word. Find a different word that is not used in each article. By the end, you should have four words that have an interesting attribute in common.

• Newspaper Clipping Clue #2

  The common words that each article alludes to are homophones (i.e. they sound the same as something else). Can you figure out what the words are homophones of?

• Newspaper Clipping Clue #3

  Each article's common word that is not used is a homophone of a letter. For example, the article about Leaves and Lemon is about tea, which is a homophone of the letter T. The other three articles are also homophones of letters.

  The next clue will reveal the other three letters.

• Newspaper Clipping Clue #4

  The four letters, one from each article, are: P (from pea), O (from owe), U (from ewe), and T (from tea). These four letters spell POUT.

  Can you figure out a synonym of the word pout, which would correspond to a location on the map?

• Newspaper Solution

  Another similar word for pout is sulk. The answer is therefore sulking springs.

• Ciphers Clue #1

  This puzzle uses 3 different circular ciphers and a square base cipher. If you don't have all of these items, click here.

  Each circular key should be used with the square base to extract one word. With the three circular keys, you should obtain three words.

• Ciphers Clue #2

  Rotate each circular key until you are able to see a word appear based on the lines that are fully connected. Since it is a circle, you will have to determine where the word begins and ends.

• Ciphers Clue #3

  The first cipher (with 1 dot in the center) reveals the word INERT:

  

  All three keys reveal a phrase that refers to a single location on the map.

• Ciphers Solution

  The phrase is INERT BODIES BURNED. This refers to the Oakmont Crematorium.

  

• Photos Clue #1

  This puzzle uses 4 different photos. If you don't have all 4 photos, click here.

  Each landmark's name consists of two words. Take the common letters shared between these two words for each photo. The number of boxes corresponds to the number of shared common letters.

  You may also benefit from this tip in the Read Me First pamphlet: "You can use outside resources. A few of the puzzles may not be doable without some Internet research."

• Photos Clue #2

  Each of the photos depicts a famous landmark in England.

  Do some sleuthing to figure out the four famous landmarks. Use the Internet, ask a friend, or come up with other creative methods! Also, what is in the photo may look slightly different from the present day.

• Photos Clue #3

  Below are clues for each of the four landmarks.

  Photo #1: Built in 1703, it is the official London residence for the English monarchy.

  Photo #2: A large Gothic church whose origins date back over a thousand years, it is where coronations of English monarchs are held. It is also a burial site for prominent individuals, such as Isaac Newton.

  Photo #3: A royal residence built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror, this castle is located just west of London.

  Photo #4: A public square in central London, its name commemorates a famous battle in the Napoleonic Wars.

• Photos Solution

  The landmarks are Buckingham Palace (shared letters: A & C), Westminster Abbey (shared letter: E), Windsor Castle (shared letter: S), and Trafalgar Square (shared letters: A, R). These letters spell Caesar; the answer is Caesar Park.

• Bill of Fare Clue #1

  This puzzle uses a Bill of Fare from The Counting House Restaurant. If you don't have it, click here.

  Study each dish and its corresponding price together. Each dish and its corresponding price yields a letter. The name of the restaurant provides a clue for what to do.

• Bill of Fare Clue #2

  The 's' and 'd' stand for an old currency system, shillings and pence, that was used in Britain during this time period. By converting all the prices into pence (there are 12 pence in a shilling), use the number along with the corresponding dish to yield a letter.

• Bill of Fare Clue #3

  Using the price in pence, extract a letter from each dish by counting the nth letter. For example, Astra Regal Oysters costs 4 pence, and its 4th letter is R.

• Bill of Fare Solution

  For each dish, use its corresponding price in pence to find the letter at that price's position. For instance, Astral Regal Oysters are 4 pence, and the letter in the 4th position from the left is the 'r' in Astra. Smoked Haddock Soup (5d) yields 'e' and Potted Shrimps (6d) yields 'd'. The Starters section spells the word red.

  The Mains and the Puddings & Cheese sections have some prices that end with an 's' instead of a 'd'. £sd stands for the pound shilling pence system that was used in Britain during this time period. There are 12d (pence) in 1s (shilling). Translate all of the prices into pence. So, Toffee Pudding (1s) yields 'n' in the 12th position. Stilton and Biscuits (1s) yields 'i' in its 12th position. Unscrambled, this gives the word inn. Using the same method in Mains yields Sequoia. The answer is Red Sequoia Inn.

• Spelling Bee Flyer Clue #1

  This puzzle uses a spelling bee flyer. If you don't have the flyer, click here.

  Using the jumbled letters on the flyer, try spelling the flyer's title.

• Spelling Bee Flyer Clue #2

  Notice that the words in the flyer's title are connected by lines. Try also connecting the letters underneath the flyer's title as you spell each word in the title. Do you see anything when you spell each letter?

• Spelling Bee Flyer Clue #3

  If you connect each of the letters in a given word with dashes, you will obtain a letter. For instance, F-R-I-D-A-Y traces out the letter T.

  

  The four letters spell out a word that describes a location on the map.

• Spelling Bee Flyer Clue #4

  F-R-I-D-A-Y traces out the letter T. S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G traces out the letter R. B-E-E traces out the letter I. M-A-T-C-H traces out the letter O. The hidden word is TRIO.

  Now, is there a location name for which TRIO could be a good descriptor?

• Spelling Bee Flyer Solution

  Trio refers to Three Columns.

• Final Puzzle Clue #1

  You can only solve this puzzle once you have the other five puzzles solved correctly.

• Final Puzzle Clue #2

  Use the coordinates on the map.

  If you don't have the map, click here.

• Final Puzzle Clue #3

  Have you tried unscrambling the letters from the map coordinates?

• Final Puzzle Solution

  Each of the five locations (Sulking Springs, Oakmont Crematorium, Caesar Park, Red Sequoia Inn, Three Columns) gives two letters from the map's coordinates. For example, Sulking Springs is on EO. Unscrambling the ten letters gives CORDELIA ST. The answer is Cordelia St Manor.

  Now, enter Cordelia St Manor as the answer to the Final Puzzle of Part I to learn what happens next!

• The Foyer Clue #1

  The Foyer envelope contains a new letter from Reager and the floorplan to Cordelia St. Manor. If you don't have all of the items, click here.

  You won't be able to solve The Foyer until you've solved all other 6 puzzles. To begin, carefully re-read the letter left by Reager for clues. Also, look at and fill out the floorplan.

• The Foyer Clue #2

  Connect the dots... Can you figure out where?

• The Foyer Clue #3

  Connect the numbered dots in the floorplan to intersect letters. You extract 1 letter from each room.

• The Foyer Solution

  By connecting the numbered dots (1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, etc) with straight lines, there is 1 letter in each room that the lines go through. Unscrambling the letters yields the word ATONED.

  Now, select Check Solutions & Unlock the Story above. Then, enter ATONED as the final answer to Part II to reveal the ending of Blackbrim!

• The Parlour Room Clue #1

  The Parlour Room envelope contains 5 different paintings. If you are missing any of them, click here.

  There is something both familiar yet slightly off about each of the paintings.

  You may also benefit from this tip in the Read Me First pamphlet: "You can use outside resources. A few of the puzzles may not be doable without some Internet research."

• The Parlour Room Clue #2

  Each painting is of a famous piece of art, but there has been at least 1 modification (something added or removed) in each painting.

• The Parlour Room Clue #3

  What is added or taken away from each painting fits in the plaque underneath. For some paintings, the word is plural because there are multiple added or removed.

• The Parlour Room Solution

  The words are NECKLACE, SHADOW, FLOWERS, PEARL, and SNAKES. The letters in the rectangles spell ADORN.

• The Study Clue #1

  The Study envelope contains two small pages of poems. If you are missing any items, click here.

  The first poem explains how the couplets work. For each couplet, the first line describes a word and the second line describes another word that can be formed by adding an extra letter. For example, CAR → CARE or BET → BEAT.

• The Study Clue #2

  Each couplet yields a single letter that is from the added letter.

• The Study Clue #3

  Unscramble all of the extra letters obtained. You can use an online anagram solver if you'd like!

• The Study Solution

  The answer is SECRET. The words are RAIN → TRAIN (T), TAIL → TRAIL (R), SOLD → SCOLD (C), BAR → BEAR (E), HARE → SHARE (S), and SAT → SEAT (E).

• The Solarium Overall Clue #1

  The Solarium envelope contains 4 small cards. If you are missing any of them, click here.

  Each card contains a mini puzzle. Once you have solved the mini puzzles from each card, you should have obtained instructions. Use the backs of the cards to follow the instructions.

• The Solarium Clue for Card I

  Find the leaf symbol on another card (circled below).

  

  Can you match the symbols up to find the hidden word on Card I? Pay attention to other details on both cards when matching up the leaves.

• The Solarium Clue for Card II

  By following the instructions given on the card, there are four additional plots where roses must go when following the rules. Extract those four letters.

• The Solarium Clue for Card III

  Solve the crossword (internet searches are ok!), and use the letters in the circled boxes to spell a word.

• The Solarium Clue for Card IV

  Each of the four symbols represents a different letter. The word you are looking for is at the top. The other 6 words underneath help you figure out what letters the symbols represent.

• The Solarium Overall Clue #2

  Once you've followed the instructions, by carefully flipping the cards over, you'll see the vines surrounding four letters in the center. The answer is that four letter word.

• The Solarium Solution for Card I.

  The leaf symbol at the top also shows up at the bottom of Card 4.

  

  Match the leaf symbols up, and the vertical brown bar from Card 4 appears on Card I at the precise places that it's needed to spell the word MAKE.

  

• The Solarium Solution for Card II.

  By following the instructions, the plots that also have roses are F, O, U, and R. These plots spell the word FOUR.

• The Solarium Solution for Card III.

  The answers to the crossword are WATERING, ANNUAL, AERATE, BIENNIAL, and GRAFT. The circled letters spell LEAF.

• The Solarium Solution for Card IV.

  The answer is CLOVER. The four symbols spell the word LOVE. The list of other words are UNLOVED, LOVE, LOVELY, GLOVE, BELOVED, and LOVERS. These list of other words are clues for what letters the symbols represent.

• The Solarium Overall Solution

  The four cards reveal the phrase MAKE FOUR LEAF CLOVER. Using the backs of the cards, make a four leaf clover (there is approximately a quarter of the clover on each card). After making the clover, flip the four cards around. The vines create a circle around the word. The final answer is CLAY.

• The Bedrooms Clue #1

  The Bedrooms envelope contains 1 thick card and 2 pages comprising a letter. If you are missing any of them, click here.

  Look at the underlined words. Can you turn them into a phrase? The bolded word "reversals" may also give a clue.

• The Bedrooms Clue #2

  By reversing the order of the underlined words, you get the phrase "shift forward by your age." Since Reager wrote this letter to her brother Alfred, figure out Alfred's age when he received the letter. The scratchings on the wall and the letter itself should help.

• The Bedrooms Clue #3

  From the letter and the scratchings on the wall, Alfred was 19 when Reager wrote the letter. From the letter, we know that Alfred just turned two years old in the summer of 1835. So, he was born around the summer of 1833. From the scratchings on the wall, we know that he was locked in the room in October 1852. Therefore, 1852 - 1833 = 19.

  The bolded word "Capital" provides a clue of what to shift. "Shift" refers to a Caesar cipher, a way to encode each letter. A shift of 1 means that A becomes B, B becomes C, Z becomes A, etc. A shift of 2 means that A → C, B → D, Y → A, Z → B, etc.

• The Bedrooms Clue #4

  Shift all of the capitals in the letter by 19. Shifting by 19 means that A → T, B → U, Y → R, Z → S, etc (quick tip: shifting forward by 19 is the same as shifting backwards by 7).

• The Bedrooms Clue #5

  After shifting forward all the capitals in the letter by 19 and figuring out where words begin & end, you get the phrase TO HAVE BEEN ALIVE BACKWARDS.

  Can you think of a word that fits that phrase?

• The Bedrooms Solution

  The secret phrase from the letter is TO HAVE BEEN ALIVE BACKWARDS. The word "lived" fits the definition of "to have been alive." Backwards, LIVED becomes DEVIL, which is the answer.

• The Kitchen Clue #1

  The Kitchen envelope contains a small recipe card and a page with 10 statements. If you are missing any of these, click here.

  You are looking for 6 numbers that correspond to the blacked out values in the recipe.

  NOTE: Does your #5 contain the phrase "two perfect squares"? If so, click here to view the hints.

• The Kitchen Clue #2

  Use #3 and #10 together to figure out the number of eggs (E) and the ounces of butter (B). E = B and E2 = B. So, E=1 and B=1.

  NOTE: Does your #5 contain the phrase "two perfect squares"? If so, click here to view the hints.

• The Kitchen Clue #3

  Use #2, #4 and the fact that you know eggs (E) is 1 and butter (B) is 1 to figure out the ounces of flour (F).

  F is a perfect cube between 1 and 20, inclusive. There are two options for F: 1 (1³ = 1) and 8 (2³ = 8).

  There are five distinct amounts and six missing values, so we know that only two of the values are equal. Since E=1 and B=1 already, F cannot be 1. So, F=8.

• The Kitchen Clue #4

  Using #7, we get that the ounces of sugar is 7 since 8 - 1 = 7.

• The Kitchen Clue #5

  Use #5 and #9 to begin narrowing down the possibilities for the number of hours. Since H is a multiple of 4 but also the largest amount and F=8, H must be 12, 16, or 20.

• The Kitchen Clue #6

  Using #8, we know that the sum of all the amounts is 7 x 8 = 56.

  Using #6, we know that H (hours) - CS (teaspoonfuls of carbonate soda) = 1. Since H has 3 possibilities, we guess and check the options. If H = 12, CS = 11. If H = 16, CS = 15. And if H = 20, CS = 19.

  Only the last option with H = 20, CS = 19 gives the total sum to be 56 (1 + 7 + 8 + 1 + 19 + 20).

• The Kitchen Clue #7

  Change each number into a letter to reveal a six-letter word.

• The Kitchen Solution

  The amounts are 1, 7, 8, 1, 19, 20. Changing those to letters (where A=1 and Z=26) yields the answer AGHAST.

• The Dining Room Clue #1

  The Dining Room envelope contains a small placecard and a napkin. If you are missing any of these, click here.

  The napkin's patterns are very symmetrical, which may give you a hint for how to fold it.

• The Dining Room Clue #2

  Do you know how to fold a cootie catcher? The answer is similar.

• The Dining Room Solution

  After folding into a 2x2 such that only red is showing, the napkin should reveal two letters on each side. HU and NT spells out the answer HUNT.