
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
Let  $s_1, s_2, \dots$  be an arithmetic progression of positive integers. Suppose that
\[ s_{s_1} = x+2, \quad s_{s_2} = x^2+18, \quad\text{and}\quad s_{s_3} = 2x^2+18. \]
Determine the value of  $x$ .

*Proposed by Evan Chen*

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