How many hands did the host's wife shake at the dinner party?

How many hands did the host's wife shake at the dinner party?

The host's wife shook hands with how many people at the dinner party?

Answer:

The host's wife shook hands with nine people at the dinner party.

The host's wife shook hands with nine people at the dinner party. This result was determined based on a traditional combinatorics handshake problem in mathematics.

This problem is a classic example of handshake problems in combinatorics, a branch of mathematics. In this scenario, with 12 people present (the host couple and 5 other couples), no one shook hands with themselves or their spouse. Each person at the party shook a different number of hands, leading to a unique count for each individual.

By analyzing the handshake counts, it was concluded that the host's wife must have shaken hands with nine people. This number was the highest count possible for any individual at the party, considering the constraints of the problem.

With the host's wife shaking nine hands, it was deduced that the host himself shook hands with eight people, the second highest number, as he did not shake hands with his own wife. This logic helped to determine the number of hands the host's wife shook at the dinner party.