input: from typing import List
  
  def fix_syntax_errors(code_snippet: str) -> str:
      """
      Takes a Python code snippet as a string, identifies syntax errors, and attempts to fix them.
      If a variable is referenced but not defined, it wraps the reference in a try-except block.
      
      >>> fix_syntax_errors("def test ():\n    x = 5\n    y = 3 \n    z")
      "def test():\n    x = 5\n    y = 3\n    try:\n        z\n    except NameError:\n        print(\"NameError: Name 'z' is not defined\")"
      """
output:     lines = code_snippet.split('\n')
      fixed_lines = []
      for line in lines:
          if '=' not in line and not line.strip().startswith('#'):
              try_except_block = f"    try:\n        {line.strip()}\n    except NameError:\n        print(\"NameError: Name '{line.split()[-1]}' is not defined\")"
              fixed_lines.append(try_except_block)
          else:
              fixed_lines.append(line)
      return '\n'.join(fixed_lines)