
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
Mike had a bag of candies, and all candies were whole pieces that cannot be divided. Initially, Mike ate $\frac{1}{4}$ of the candies. Then, he shared $\frac{1}{3}$ of the remaining candies with his sister, Linda. Next, both Mike and his father ate 12 candies each from the remaining candies Mike had. Later, Mike’s sister took between one to four candies, leaving Mike with five candies in the end. Calculate the number of candies Mike started with initially.

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