"Tell me, Master" begged the sorceror's apprentice "how to turn
stone into gold, and how to turn beans into coffee, for I thirst
for the secrets of alchemy"
"The secret" replied the alchemist "is not to combine the base
elements but to subtract one from the other. I have placed a cache
to test the expertise of all would-be alchemists, and in order to
find it you must complete ten elementary extractions:
Begin by extracting platinum from gold.
Second, start with a measure of ethyl alcohol and subtract two
measures of water.
Next, take salt away from sand.
Fourth, you must extract fulminate of mercury from table sugar.
It's explosive so only take the tenth part of the resulting
concoction.
Next, find out what you get by extracting muriatic acid from
laughing gas.
You're half way there now, my apprentice, so now turn your
thoughts from the north to the west, and continue.
Remove the phosphorus from rotten eggs.
Now take prussic acid and deduct ammonia.
Next, wash all of the coal dust off the purest aluminum
siding.
Repeat the last step, then finish by going back to the
beginning."
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.