
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
Suppose a small café has 12 items on the menu. If three friends, Alex, Bob, and Cindy, each order one dish, how many different combinations of meals can they order, assuming they can all order the same dish and their choices are distinct?

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