
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. Each person is seated in a circular arrangement and shakes hands with every other person except for his or her spouse and the person directly next to them (neighbors). How many handshakes occur?

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