Archie and Valen had 73 wafers altogether. After Archie ate ¹₄ of his wafers and Valen ate 3 wafers, the number of wafers Valen had left was twice the number of wafers Archie had left. How many more wafers did Valen have than Archie at first?

	Archie	Valen	Total
Before	4 u	6 u + 3	73
Change	- 1 u	- 3
After	3 u
Comparing Archie and Valen in the end	1x3 = 3 u	2x3 = 6 u

The number of wafers that Archie had in the end is the same. Make the number of wafers that Archie had in the end the same.  LCM of 3 and 1 is 3.

Total number of wafers at first
= 4 u + 6 u + 3
= 10 u + 3

10 u + 3 = 73
10 u = 73 - 3
10 u = 70 

1 u = 70 ÷ 10 = 7

Number of wafers that Archie had at first
= 4 u
= 4 x 7
= 28

Number of wafers that Valen had at first
= 73 - 28
= 45

Number of wafers that Valen had more than Archie at first
= 45 - 28
= 17

Answer(s): 17