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

If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 07 Mar 2025


What are the next two letters in the following series and why?
W A T N T L I T F S _ _

*Hint: Check Puzzle Title

Asked by Neha on 12 May 2023

Solve below popular number sequence
314 159 265 358 979 323 846 ?

Asked by Neha on 09 Nov 2025


If you paint a brown house white it will become a white house. If the stoplight changes from red to green, then the light is green. So, if you throw a white shirt into the Red Sea, what will it become?

Asked by Neha on 07 Jun 2025

John can fit six large chocolate boxes or nine small chocolate boxes into a carton. How many cartons will he require to put sixty-six chocolate boxes into?

Asked by Neha on 25 May 2024

If we tell you that there is a relation between the numbers and letters in the given figure, can you analyze it and find the missing letter in the last box?

Relationship in Numbers and Letters

Asked by Neha on 11 Jun 2023


Sherlock breaks into a crime scene. The victim is the owner who is slumped dead on a chair and have a bullet hole in his head. A gun lies on the floor and a cassette recorder is found on the table. On pressing the play button, Sherlock hears the message 'I have committed sins in my life and now I offer my soul to the great Lord' and followed a gunshot Sherlock smiles and informed the police that's its a murder.

Why did he think so?

Murder Mystery with Sherlock Riddle

Asked by Neha on 01 May 2021

Can you make four (4) nines (9) equal 100?

Asked by Neha on 16 Jul 2023

There is a unique number which when multiplied by any number from 1 to 6, we will get the new number that contains the same digits only.

Can you find that number?

Asked by Neha on 19 Dec 2023


You stand in front of two doors. A guard stands next to each door. You know the following things: one path leads to paradise, the other leads to death. You cannot distinguish between the two doors. You also know that one of the two guards always tells the truth and the other always lies. You have permission to ask one guard one question to discover which door leads to paradise. What one question would you ask to guarantee you enter the door to paradise?

Asked by Neha on 03 Jun 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Challenging

There is a cryptic organization called Cicada 3301 that posts challenging puzzles online, possibly to recruit codebreakers and linguists.