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

Can you count the number of triangles in the given picture?

Count The Triangles <br />

Asked by Neha on 29 Dec 2024


You have 1023 apples and 10 bags. You have to distribute these apples in these 10 bags in any way you choose. But when I ask for a certain number of apples you have to give them in terms of bags without transferring the apples from other bags. How do you distribute the apples?

Asked by Neha on 25 Jan 2021

_ _ _ IE _ _
_ _ _ IE _
_ _ IE _ _
_ _ IE _
_ _ _ _ IE

Like you see, some letters have gone missing from these words that contain the IE pair at some or the other place. The letters that will be used to fill the blanks are given below. Use them and form meaningful words. Can you do that?

A, C, D, F, H, K, L, M, N, N, O, R, R, S, S, S, T, T, Y and Y.

Asked by Neha on 22 Jul 2021


What part of Turkey has the most feathers?

Asked by Neha on 30 Dec 2025

What common phrase is represented by the below lines

Easy going:
Weak, 'I'm going.'
Tough, 'I'm staying.'

Medium going:
Weak, 'I'm going.'
Tough, 'I'm staying.'

Tough going:
Weak, 'I can't do it, I'm staying!'
Tough, 'Let's get going.'

Asked by Neha on 19 Nov 2024

A farmer and his neighbour once went to Emperor Akbar"s court with a complaint. "Your Majesty, I bought a well from him," said the farmer pointing to his neighbour, "and now he wants me to pay for the water."
"That"s right, your Majesty," said the neighbour. "I sold him the well but not the water!"?
The Emperor asked Birbal to settle the dispute. How did Birbal solve the dispute?

Asked by Neha on 10 May 2021


In a secret society, a buried chamber can be accessed only via a secret password. The password is seven characters long and comprises of just letters and numbers.

You find a code that can help you in cracking the password. The code says "You force heaven to be empty".

Can you deduce the password from that?

Asked by Neha on 14 May 2021

What is both possible and impossible at the same time?

Asked by Neha on 15 Apr 2022

Samuel was out for a walk when it started to rain. He did not have an umbrella and he wasn't wearing a hat. His clothes were soaked, yet not a single hair on his head got wet. How could this happen?

Asked by Neha on 01 Apr 2022


I am a type of vehicle that has two wheels and is powered by humans. What am I?
Hint 1: You can ride me for exercise.
Hint 2: I am environment-friendly.

Asked by Neha on 01 Oct 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword puzzles

In the 1920s, people feared that crossword puzzles would contribute to illiteracy.