The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word ALCHEMY
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More clues leading to the result ALCHEMY
- Lacy flounces round garment's edge, attempting elementary alterations
- Heal Charlie badly with my dubious branch of science
- Longing to trap learner with setter’s mystic art
- Long expression of surprise about source of legendary old science
- Boxing edge – Clay possibly displays transformative power
- Million years back, a student chapter at England found this ancient branch of natural philosophy
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "ancient branch of natural philosophy" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case ancient branch of natural philosophy = alchemy.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ALCHEMY mean?
ALCHEMY noun- The ancient search for a universal panacea, and of the philosopher's stone, that eventually developed into chemistry.
- The causing of any sort of mysterious sudden transmutation.
- Any elaborate transformation process or algorithm.