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The Football Players

Unreviewed import — a classic from the public domain; its solution has not been machine-checked yet.

math
"It is a glorious game!" an enthusiast was heard to exclaim. "At the close of last season, of the footballers of my acquaintance four had broken their left arm, five had broken their right arm, two had the right arm sound, and three had sound left arms." Can you discover from that statement what is the smallest number of players that the speaker could be acquainted with? It does not at all follow that there were as many as fourteen men, because, for example, two of the men who had broken the left arm might also be the two who had sound right arms.

Solution

Commit an attempt to unseal the proof. Write your answer — right or wrong, thinking it through is the point.

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