XXVI - I - Task 1

At the ball, there were 42 people. Lady $ A_1 $ danced with 7 gentlemen, Lady $ A_2 $ danced with 8 gentlemen, ..., Lady $ A_n $ danced with all the gentlemen. How many gentlemen were at the ball?
The number of ladies at the ball is $ n $, so the number of gentlemen is $ 42-n $. The lady with number $ k $, where $ 1 \leq k \leq n $, danced with $ k+6 $ gentlemen. Therefore, the lady with number $ n $ danced with $ n+ 6 $ gentlemen. These were all the gentlemen present at the ball. Thus, $ 42-n = n + 6 $. Solving this equation, we get $ n = 18 $. The number of gentlemen at the ball is therefore $ 42-18 = 24 $.