Answer the medium hopes to get a seance? (8,5)

'medium hopes to get a seance?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'answer' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'answer' could be 'reply' (synonyms) and 'reply' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'spirited' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?