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

Look at the below sequence of letters and tell us what the next letter should be:

O T T F F S S ?

Asked by Neha on 02 Jan 2024


John left on a horse on Thursday , was gone for two days, and came back on Thursday after completing his work. How did that happen?

Asked by Neha on 23 Feb 2021

Can you arrange four 9's and use at most 2 math symbols, to make the total 100?

Asked by Neha on 21 Nov 2023


A quarter is one-fourth of a dollar but Mr. John has changed the equation as below :

DOLLAR * 4 = QUARTER

Can you replace each letter with a digit to make the above solution correct?

Asked by Neha on 15 Mar 2026

Three people check into a hotel. They pay $60 for the rent of the room. After they check-in, the manager realize that the rent for the room is $55. So, he gives $5 to the bellboy and asks him to give it to them. The bellboy thinks that it will be difficult for the three people to share $5 among them and seeking the personal benefit, he pockets $2 and gives the remaining $3 to them.

Now, each person paid $20 and got back $1. In this manner, each of them paid just $19 which totals to the amount of $57. The bellboy has $2 with him and adding them, we get $59. So where is the remaining $1?

Asked by Neha on 02 Aug 2023

Below, you will find the mathematical proof that 10 equals 9.99999?. But is that possible or there is something wrong about it? Can you find the error?

x = 9.999999...
10x = 99.999999...
10x - x = 90
9x = 90
x = 10

Asked by Neha on 27 Aug 2021


A couple went to a hill station to enjoy their vacation. They have 12 sons, and each has a wife who has 3 sons further.

How many people went to the hill station?

Asked by Neha on 22 Jul 2026

Which is heavier: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

Asked by Neha on 28 Feb 2022

Can you make the number 24 by utilizing the numbers 1, 3, 4 and 6? You must use one number only one time and you can use mathematical operation symbols anytime anywhere.

Asked by Neha on 18 Jan 2026


Can you make the below equation true by using any three numbers from "1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15"?

( ) + ( ) + ( ) = 30

Asked by Neha on 18 Dec 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword

The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.