
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
A square box of candies is divided into 49 equal square cells. In each cell, there is a chocolate candy - either black or white. In one sitting, Sasha can eat two candies if they are the same color and are in adjacent cells either side by side or diagonally. What is the maximum number of candies that Sasha can guaranteedly eat, no matter how the candies are arranged in the box?

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