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

What four weights can be used to balance from 1 to 30 pounds?

Asked by Neha on 25 Apr 2022


Two men play a dice game involving roll of two standard dice. Man X says that a 12 will be rolled first. Man Y says that two consecutive 7s will be rolled first. The men keep rolling until one of them wins.

What is the probability that X will win ?

Asked by Neha on 13 Apr 2023

Can you find the missing piece of the Porsche?

Find the missing part

Asked by Neha on 23 Jun 2023


Can you find out the missing number?

? 4 5 3 5

9 5 7 10 3

Asked by Neha on 03 Mar 2024

What comes
Once in a Year
Twice in a Month
4 times in a Week
6 times in a Day

Asked by Neha on 24 Feb 2022

French Police inspects a room where there are no windows, no doors, no tables and is almost empty expect there is just a puddle of water. They found a dead man who obviously hung herself from the ceiling, but they are not able to figure out how this had happened.

John and Jacob entered the crime scene and easily able to solve the case.

How did the man die?

Asked by Neha on 09 Sep 2021


Two brothers were watching a horror film on video late one night. One brother dozed off and dreamed that he was being chased by the crazy man from the movie, who was trying to kill him. In the dream, he hid in a cupboard. There was no sound except his heart pounding, and he had no idea where his crazed captor was. He was terrified! At that moment, the video finished, and his brother put his hand on the shoulder of his sleeping sibling to wake him. The shock at that tense moment was enough that the sleeping brother suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly. True or false?

Asked by Neha on 02 Jan 2026

I am sometimes honest
Sometimes dishonest
I can be sweet and also bitter
I can hurt you real bad and
also make u smile and blush ☺️
What am I?

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021

In a rainy season, one day 3 huge ladies walked under a normal-sized umbrella.
The umbrella is not huge enough to accommodate all 3 ladies yet not a single lady got wet. Why?

Asked by Neha on 19 May 2024


If you're 8 feet away from a door and with each move you advance half the distance to the door. How many moves will it take to reach the door?

Asked by Neha on 13 Aug 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles soared in popularity during the great depression, as they provided a cheap, long-lasting, recyclable form of entertainment.