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'Andy's Marbles' printed from https://nrich.maths.org/
Andy and his friend Sam were walking along the road together. Andy had a big bag of marbles.
Unfortunately the bottom of the bag split and all the marbles spilled out. Poor Andy!
One third ($\frac{1}{3}$) of the marbles rolled down the slope too quickly for Andy to pick them up. One sixth ($\frac{1}{6}$) of all the marbles disappeared into the rain-water drain.
Andy and Sam picked up all they could but half ($\frac{1}{2}$) of the marbles that remained nearby were picked up by other children who ran off with them.
Andy counted all the marbles he and Sam had rescued.
He gave one third ($\frac{1}{3}$) of these to Sam for helping him pick them up. Andy put his remaining marbles into his pocket. There were $14$ of them.
How many marbles were there in Andy's bag before the bottom split?
What fraction of the total number that had been in the bag had he lost or given away?