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 find out the missing number?

? 4 5 3 5

9 5 7 10 3

Asked by Neha on 03 Mar 2024


A father told his three sons he would die soon and he needed to decide which one of them to give his property to. He said, “Go to the market and buy something large enough to fill my bedroom, but small enough to fit in your pocket. From this, I will decide which of you is the wisest and worthy enough to inherit my land.” They all went to the market, and each came back with a different item. The father told his sons to come into his bedroom one at a time and try to fill up his bedroom with their items. The first son came in and put some pieces of cloth he bought and laid them across the room, but it barely covered the floor. The second son came in and laid some hay on the floor, but there was only enough to cover half the floor. The third son came in and showed his father what he bought. He wound up getting the property. What did the third son show his father?

Asked by Neha on 29 May 2025

Make eight squares by moving only two matchsticks.
Note- Square can be of different sizes.

Make the Square

Asked by Neha on 12 Apr 2021


In a competitive exam, each correct answer could win you 10 points and each wrong answer could lose you 5 points. You sat in the exam and answered all the 20 questions, which were given in the exam.
When you checked the result, you scored 125 marks on the test.

Can you calculate how many answers given by you were wrong?

Asked by Neha on 08 Apr 2025

Three men in a cafe order a meal the total cost of which is $15. They each contribute $5. The waiter takes the money to the chef who recognises the three as friends and asks the waiter to return $5 to the men.

The waiter is not only poor at mathematics but dishonest and instead of going to the trouble of splitting the $5 between the three he simply gives them $1 each and pockets the remaining $2 for himself.

Now, each of the men effectively paid $4, the total paid is therefore $12. Add the $2 in the waiters pocket and this comes to $14. Where has the other $1 gone from the original $15?

Asked by Neha on 06 Sep 2021

How many triangles can you find in this given picture?

Count the Triangles

Asked by Neha on 27 Feb 2023


using four eights (8) and a one (1) and one mathematical symbol , create the number 100

Asked by Neha on 31 Dec 2020

In the Mexico City area, there are two Houses H1 and H2. Both H1 and H2 have two children each.
In House H1, The boy plays for Mexico Youth academy and the other child plays baseball.
In House H2, The boy Plays soccer for his school in Mexico and they recently have a newborn.

Can you prove that the probability of House-H1 having a girl child is more than that of House-H2?

Asked by Neha on 06 Jun 2024

During which month do people sleep the least?

Asked by Neha on 13 Apr 2022


What does this Rebus Picture mean?

TV Rebus

Asked by Neha on 17 Mar 2024

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Crossword

The day before the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the NYT Crossword contained the clue “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper,” the puzzle was built so that both electoral outcomes were correct answers, requiring 7 other clues to have dual responses.