
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
At a gathering, there are 8 married couples. Everyone at the gathering shakes hands with every other attendee except their own spouse and one particular person who is allergic to physical contact. How many handshakes occur?

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