Shapovalov A.V.

Little kids were eating candies. Each one ate 7 candies less than all the others together, but still more than one candy.

How many candies were eaten in total?
Let's choose one of the children - for example, Petya. If we take away 7 candies from all the others, there will be as many left as Petya has. Therefore, twice the number of candies Petya has equals the total number of candies minus seven. The same can be said about any of the children, which means that all the children have the same number of candies - let's say, one pile each.

It is clear that each one ate one pile less than the rest combined. Therefore, 7 is divisible by the size of the pile. So (since each one ate more than one candy according to the condition), there are 7 candies in each pile, which means each one ate one pile less than all the others. Petya ate one pile, so the others ate two. Therefore, there are three piles in total, and 21 candies.

## Answer

21 candies.