
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 school event, nine children of different ages are grouped together—each child, except those in first grade, decides to only shake hands with children younger than themselves. How many handshakes take place if the first graders do not participate in any handshakes?

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