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

They came out at night, without being called.
They lost at day, without being stolen.
Who are they?

Asked by Neha on 30 Aug 2021


What's the next in the series?

H, Be, F, S, Mn, Kr, In, Gd, Tl, ?

Asked by Neha on 17 Oct 2023

Can you find out the missing number?

? 4 5 3 5

9 5 7 10 3

Asked by Neha on 03 Mar 2024


Imagine you are in a room with no windows or doors. How will you get out?

Asked by Neha on 25 Oct 2025

A professor thinks of two consecutive numbers between 1 and 10.
'A' knows the 1st number and 'B' knows the second number

A: I do not know your number.
B: Nor do I know your number.
A: Now I know.

What are the four solutions for this?

Asked by Neha on 22 Jul 2024

A man stands on one side of a river, his dog on the other. The man calls his dog, who immediately crosses the river without getting wet and without using a bridge or a boat. How did the dog do it?

Asked by Neha on 05 Jul 2025


Complete the following series. It.s very logical:

1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, __?

Asked by Neha on 02 May 2024

John is looking at Jenifer, but Jenifer is looking at Jacob. John is married, but Jacob is not.

Is a married person looking at an unmarried person ?

Asked by Neha on 08 Feb 2021

You walk into a room where there are three primates held in their respective cages:
1) A lion who is eating the flesh of a goat.
2) An orangutan who is playing with blocks.
3) A donkey who is sitting idle.

Who is the most intelligent primate in the room?

Asked by Neha on 16 Sep 2023


I am a word that begins with the letter “i.” If you add the letter “a” to me, I become a new word with a different meaning, but that sounds exactly the same. What word am I?

Asked by Neha on 19 Mar 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Word ladder puzzle

The word ladder puzzle was invented by Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.