On a moonless night, three fireflies danced in the evening breeze. They were joined by four less than a dozen more fireflies, before two of the fireflies flew away. How many fireflies remained? Give me reasons, before answering the question
Four less than a dozen is 12 - 4 = 8. The three fireflies were joined by four less than a dozen more fireflies, for a total of 3 + 8 = 11 fireflies. Two flew away, leaving 11 - 2 = 9 fireflies remaining. So the final answer is 9.