
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Tony's favorite "sport" is a spectator event known as the  $\textit{Super Mega Ultra Galactic Thumbwrestling Championship}$  (SMUG TWC).  During the  $2008$  SMUG TWC,  $2008$  professional thumb-wrestlers who have dedicated their lives to earning lithe, powerful thumbs, compute to earn the highest title of  $\textit{Thumbzilla}$ .  The SMUG TWC is designed so that, in the end, any set of three participants can share a banana split while telling FOX $^\text{TM}$  television reporters about a bout between some pair of the three contestants.  Given that there are exactly two contestants in each bout, let  $m$  be the minimum bumber of bouts necessary to complete the SMUG TWC (so that the contestants can enjoy their banana splits and chat with reporters).  Compute  $m$ .

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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