
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
Seven couples were at a gathering. If each person shook hands exactly once with everyone else except for their spouse and one specific individual (not the same for everyone), how many handshakes were exchanged? Assume that each of these selected individuals did not shake hands with one person who is also avoiding shaking hands with them.

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