Prisoner to be freed

The warden meets with 23 new prisoners when they arrive. He tells them, "You may meet today and plan a strategy. But after today, you will be in isolated cells and will have no communication with one another.

"In the prison is a switch room, which contains two light switches labeled 1 and 2, each of which can be in either up or the down position. I am not telling you their present positions. The switches are not connected to anything.

"After today, from time to time whenever I feel so inclined, I will select one prisoner at random and escort him to the switch room. This prisoner will select one of the two switches and reverse its position. He must flip one switch when he visits the switch room, and may only flip one of the switches. Then he'll be led back to his cell.

"No one else will be allowed to alter the switches until I lead the next prisoner into the switch room. I'm going to choose prisoners at random. I may choose the same guy three times in a row, or I may jump around and come back. I will not touch the switches, if I wanted you dead you would already be dead.

"Given enough time, everyone will eventually visit the switch room the same number of times as everyone else. At any time, anyone may declare to me, 'We have all visited the switch room.'

"If it is true, then you will all be set free. If it is false, and somebody has not yet visited the switch room, you will all die horribly. You will be carefully monitored, and any attempt to break any of these rules will result in instant death to all of you"

What is the strategy they come up with so that they can be free?




Similar Riddles

What can you catch but never throw?

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021


Find the missing number in the series below

13 -21 34 -55 ? -144

Asked by Neha on 10 Jul 2026

By including only four matchsticks in below picture, you have to make "Four Triangles And Two Squares"

Four Triangles And Two Squares Matchsticks Riddle

Asked by Neha on 16 Apr 2021


I have a clock(12-hour format) and both the needles of the clock overlap at 12:00.
After how much time, they will overlap again?

Asked by Neha on 06 Jan 2024

Can you identify if it's a murder or a suicide ?


Murder or Suicide?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

A man started to town with a fox, a goose, and a sack of corn. He came to a stream which he had to cross in a tiny boat. He could only take one across at a time. He could not leave the fox alone with the goose or the goose alone with the corn. How did he get them all safely over the stream?

Asked by Neha on 05 Mar 2022


Only one color, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.
Present in sun, but not in rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.
What is it?

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021

Where do fish keep their money?

Asked by Neha on 25 Nov 2025

A man is found unconscious in front of a store at two in the morning. His head is bleeding and there’s a brick laying next to him. When the police arrive, they carry the man to jail. Why did they arrest him?

Asked by Neha on 25 May 2025


A prisoner is told: "If you tell a lie, we will hang you and if you tell the truth, we will shoot you." What did the prisoner say to save himself?

Asked by Neha on 18 Oct 2021

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Gamers

In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.