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

Different lights make me strange by changing me into different sizes. What am I?

Asked by Neha on 09 Sep 2025


In the Wild West, you are challenged into a death match by two bounty hunters nicknamed Golden Revolver (GR) and Killer Boots (KB). You accept the challenge. None of you want to waste any of the bullet and so a certain rules are laid down:

1) All of you will shoot in a given order till the last man standing.
2) Each of you shoots only once upon his turn.
3) If any one of you is injured, the other two will finish him off with an iron rod.
4) The worst shooter of all (which is you) shoots first and the best one shoots at the last.

Now, how will you plan things if you know that you hit every third shot of yours, KB hits every second shot and GR hits every shot ?

Asked by Neha on 15 Dec 2025

A fresh card pile is taken out of a box (the pile has 54 cards including 2 jokers). One joker is taken out and then the cards are shuffled for a good amount of times. After shuffling, two piles are made by dividing that one pile.



What is the possibility that one of the piles will have a card sequence from A to K in order?

Card Mixing Riddle

Asked by Neha on 04 Apr 2021


John is the son of Jacob.
So,
Jacob is the_____of John's father?

Asked by Neha on 17 Dec 2024

Create a number using only the digits 4,4,3,3,2,2,1 and 1. So i can only be eight digits. You have to make sure the ones are separated by one digit, the twos are separated by two digits the threes are separated with three digits and the fours are separated by four digits

Asked by Neha on 16 Sep 2021

Solve the rebus riddle in the picture below.

Millionaire Riddle

Asked by Neha on 14 Feb 2026


Can you complete the sequence?

192, 021, 222, 324, 252, 627, 2__, 9__?

Asked by Neha on 07 Nov 2025

If "P" means "-", "Q" means "/", "R" means "+", and "S" means "*" then find the value of the following:

21 Q 7 R 9 S 10 P 13

Asked by Neha on 16 Oct 2025

A four-digit number (not beginning with 0) can be represented by ABCD. There is one number such that ABCD=A^B*C^D, where A^B means A raised to the B power. Can you find it?

Asked by Neha on 31 Jul 2023


Can you find the missing number in the third row?
35 20 14
27 12 18
5 2 ?

Asked by Neha on 26 Jun 2023

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Out of the Box

The phrase “thinking outside the box” was popularised from the solution to a topographical puzzle involving 9 dots in a box shape.