Challenging +1.8 This AEA question requires proving a non-standard trigonometric identity through expansion of compound angles, then applying it cleverly to simplify a complex expression, and finally analyzing the uniqueness of solutions using calculus or monotonicity arguments. The multi-step nature, need for strategic insight in part (b), and rigorous proof in part (c) place it well above average difficulty but not at the extreme end for AEA material.