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  • \$\begingroup\$ Very good point. The caster would need to treat this spellcasting in the same way a lawyer might treat a contract. Terms need to be defined with as much specificity as is possible and additional wording would need to be adopted to act as guidance for exceptions that might arise which are not able to be handled within the discrete purview of each definition. In this way, a creative semantic interpretation by the DM which is intended to honor the letter of the wish but not the spirit of the wish (ie a "gotcha" like those in guildsbounty's answer) would still run afoul of the intent clauses. \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 17, 2021 at 23:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ Lol it’s not a frame challenge it’s just the spell description. \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 17, 2021 at 23:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ Real-life contract law doesn't work at all the same way that a "literal genie" works. If you ask a "literal genie" to give you a 10 kilogram gold bar, there's nothing stopping them from giving you a bar of some other material which is gold-colored and pointing out that that could technically be considered a "gold bar." If a real-life contract says I need to give you a 10 kilogram gold bar, then the courts will almost certainly interpret this as meaning a bar that is made of 10 kilograms of actual gold. \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 18, 2021 at 16:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ @TannerSwett You are absolutely correct, but even with Courts trying to do actual justice rather than allow someone to be overly literal, genuine disputes over meaning come up a lot. With the gold bar example, how pure does it have to be? The value could vary significantly. (There is actually an industry standard for bullion, 99.5%, but does it apply in this case? Higher and lower are used). And there is a very famous case trying to answer the question "What is chicken?" \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 18, 2021 at 17:44