
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
The game "Battleship" takes place on a square grid of $7 \times 7$ cells. What is the minimum number of shots needed to guarantee hitting a battleship if it is known that it:

a) has the shape of a rectangle of size $1 \times 4$ or $4 \times 1$;
b) consists of four cells that are connected side-by-side?

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