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CEMC Gauss (Grade 8), 2009

Combinatorics Difficulty 2.0 Junior Find the answer Canada

A dollar sign is formed by drawing two parallel vertical lines through the letter S, as shown. These lines cut the letter S into 7 pieces. What is the minimum total number of parallel vertical lines that are needed to cut the letter S into exactly 154 pieces?

(A) $23$ (B) $44$ (C) $22$ (D) $51$ (E) $70$

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