var best bitmask.BitMask
		if (policyName != PolicySingleNumaNode) && opts.PreferClosestNUMA {
			best = numaInfo.Closest(current.NUMANodeAffinity, candidate.NUMANodeAffinity)
		} else {
			best = numaInfo.Narrowest(current.NUMANodeAffinity, candidate.NUMANodeAffinity)
		}
		if best.IsEqual(current.NUMANodeAffinity) {
			return current
		}
		return candidate
	}

	merger := HintMerger{

// available CPUs and the number of CPUs being requested.
//
// It follows the convention of marking all hints that have the same number of
// bits set as the narrowest matching NUMANodeAffinity with 'Preferred: true', and
// marking all others with 'Preferred: false'.