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

Replace the question mark with the correct number in the below-given picture?

Number Riddle

Asked by Neha on 08 Sep 2023


What three numbers, none of which is zero, give the same result whether they’re added or multiplied?

Asked by Neha on 26 Feb 2022

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


I am white when I am dirty, and black when I am clean. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 31 Mar 2022

Which English verb becomes past tense just by rearranging the letters?

Asked by Neha on 07 Sep 2025

The King of a distant land had heard that Birbal was one of the wisest men in the East and so desired to meet Birbal. He sent Birbal an invitation to visit his country.

In due course, Birbal arrived in the distant kingdom. When he entered the palace he was flabbergasted to find not one but six kings seated there. All looked alike. All were dressed in kingly robes. Who was the real king?

The very next moment he got his answer. Confidently, he approached the king and bowed to him.

How did Birbal know who was the real king?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021


A 52% bias toss for head using the 51% tail bias coin was done to obtain a fair result.

Can you find how bias is the floor in this case?

Asked by Neha on 15 Feb 2023

How old is your son? asked a man to his neighbour. My son is five times as old as my daughter and my wife is five times as old as my son. I am twice as old as my wife whereas my grandmother, who is celebrating her eighty-first birthday is as old as all of us put together.

How old is the man's son ?

Asked by Neha on 17 May 2021

There are five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) in the English language.
Can you tell us a word that contains all these vowels?

Asked by Neha on 20 Sep 2023


Why is it very easy to weigh a fish?

One Line Funny Riddle

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2024

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has crushed all human records in the puzzle game “2048,” achieving a high score of 839,732 and beating the game in only 973 moves without using any undo.