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

Four children having five rocks each were playing a game in which they had to throw the rock at a particular solid area in the water. Child 1- Succeeded in throwing three rocks at a solid area but one of the rocks sunk. Child 3 - His aim was so bad that all rocks got sunk. Child 4- He was awesome and none of the rocks got sunk. Child 2 - Was the winner but was struck by a rock in the head and died. Who killed Child 2?

Asked by Neha on 21 Oct 2024


Which part of London exists in France as well ?

Asked by Neha on 17 Feb 2021

What brings you down but never up?

Asked by Neha on 22 Oct 2021


In the addition below, all digits have been replaced by letters. Equal letters represent equal digits and different letters represent different digits.
ABCABA
BBDCAA
ABEABB
ABDBAA
------- +
AAFGBDH
What does the complete addition look like in digits?

Asked by Neha on 04 Jul 2023

A boy was at a carnival and went to a booth where a man said to the boy, "If I write your exact weight on this piece of paper then you have to give me $50, but if I cannot, I will pay you $50." The boy looked around and saw no scale so he agrees, thinking no matter what the carny writes he'll just say he weighs more or less. In the end the boy ended up paying the man $50. How did the man win the bet?

Asked by Neha on 25 Mar 2022

In one of the popular batman series movie "Batman Forever", there was a riddle that goes like "Tear me off and then scratch my head and I was red then and now I am back. Who am I?

Scratch the head

Asked by Neha on 28 Mar 2021


I am a ten letters word
The first four letters have the power to rule,
Next, four-letter can be eaten.
The next three-letter represents a lady.
I can fly as well

what am I looking for?

Asked by Neha on 05 Jul 2023

Eight of us go fourth, not back, to protect our king from an attack. What are we?

Asked by Neha on 17 Apr 2022

Using four sevens (7) and a one (1) create the number 100. Except for the five numerals, you can use the usual mathematical operations (+, -, x, :), root and brackets ()

Asked by Neha on 26 May 2023


Count the number of squares in the picture below.

Count The Magic Squares

Asked by Neha on 14 Dec 2024

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.