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The story starts with a person winning a lottery to go to a planet where each person receives a machine that can build anything. At arrival he is surprised everyone is asking him questions about chemistry and how certain processes work. As he finally tries to use the machine he realizes that to build even the simplest things, the machine needs very detailed instructions - therefore the knowledge is the main currency on this planet.

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Well, this one is as obvious as it is obscure: "Na Leidosu" by Branko Pihač, first published in Croatian magazine Sirius No. 90, december 1983. I have no further information about translations to Slovenian or English or any other language, nor whether it was collected in one of at least three story collections he published in last 30 years.

Weirdly enough, although you misremembered a couple of details - protagonist didn't win a lottery but came as the ambassador, the questions were not about chemistry but civil engineering - the whole point of the story is the only important thing: a machine that can create anything, but requires a detailed set of instructions and refuses to offer any suggestions or make a guess about people's wishes. The society on the planet is based on honor and colaboration of people to produce anything complex, and our hero realises that his expertise in sociology and interplanetary law is rather useless to himself or anybody else.

ONE SPACIOUS AND PLEASANT RESIDENCE WITH A LAKE VIEW, WITH TERRACE, FROM PINK MARBLE. WHAT KIND OF SPACIOUS AND PLEASANT RESIDENCE WITH A LAKE VIEW, WITH TERRACE AND FROM PINK MARBLE?

PLEASE ANSWER THE PREVIOUS QUESTION. I ANALYZE: SPECIFY THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE RESIDENCE, TYPE OF A VIEW TO THE LAKE, SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE TERRACE, PORCH AND WINDOW, AND TYPE, DIMENSIONS AND THE ORIGIN OF MARBLE AND FURNITURE.

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  • ISFDb link: isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2216213 No translations or republication listed.
    – DavidW
    Commented Sep 3 at 18:17
  • It never occurred to me it was a Croatian writer and I'm sure I read it in Sirius. Thank you!
    – Goran
    Commented Sep 3 at 20:10

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