Can a Magus use a higher level casting for Crafting than required?

[something random]

If a Magus was Crafting an item that requires a spell of a level of slots they no longer have could the use they prepare the spell in the slots they do have to meet the crafting requirements.
For example could a 5th level Magus who has Magic Missile in there spell book prepare the spell in one of their 2nd level slots and cast it to satisfy the requirements to craft a 1st level scroll of Magic Missile?

[Nefreet]

You can prepare lower level spells in higher level slots without heightening them, so yes.

[HumbleGamer]

It may have been epic:

"Excuse me, could you craft me a 1st level scroll of Magic Missile?"

"I'd love to but..." *Flexes muscles* "I am too powerful now" *winks*

[Cordell Kintner]

Nefreet wrote:

You can prepare lower level spells in higher level slots without heightening them, so yes.

What? If you prep a spell in a high level slot, that IS heightening them.

"When you get spell slots of 2nd level and higher, you can fill those slots with stronger versions of lower-level spells. This increases the spell's level, heightening it to match the spell slot. Many spells have specific improvements when they're heightened to certain levels."

Using a heightened spell doesn't lock you out of crafting though, as long as the spell is at least the level required for crafting.

[Nefreet]

You can cast a 1st level spell using a 2nd level slot without the benefits, which in this case would be a 1st level magic missile using a 2nd level slot.

And just to nip the arguments in the bud ahead of time, yes, I'm aware of the "unofficialness" of the answer.

[Cordell Kintner]

No. The MM would be 2nd level, it just doesn't do anything additional until heightened to 3rd. It's still 2nd level for the sake of Counteracting. You can't gain the effect of say, a 2nd level invis, while using a 4th level slot.

Very few spells actually allow you to use lower level effects when heightened. The best example I know of would be Enlarge's 6th level effect.

Also, the "unofficialness" is the least of the problems with that post. It's literally just a single word. Who knows if they misunderstood the question and thought they were answering "Can I use a 2nd level slot for a spell that has no bonus when heightened to that level?", which to me sounds like what the OP was actually asking, especially since others in the post are answering that very interpretation of the question.