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 solve the rebus below?

Brain Game Riddle

Asked by Neha on 11 Apr 2026


I can sizzle like bacon,
I am made with an egg,
I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg,
I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole,
I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole.

Asked by Neha on 07 Dec 2023

You have two strings whose only known property is that when you light one end of either string it takes exactly one hour to burn. The rate at which the strings will burn is completely random and each string is different. How do you measure 45 minutes?

Asked by Neha on 17 Feb 2026


Using Only Five 5's and any mathematical operator make sum as 37

Math Magic Possible

Asked by Neha on 26 Mar 2021

What does below Rebus say?

XLR8

Asked by Neha on 10 May 2021

Aaron, Brad, Christopher, Danny and Elvis decided to play a game of tiddlywinks. In this game they decided that one win will get 1 point for winning, 0 for losing and 1/2 in case of a tie.

They finished the game in alphabetical order and it was found that the scores were different for each person.

Based on the following two statements, can you find out the result of the individual games?
Brad: No one could finish like me, without a loss.
Elvis: No one played worse than me, I finished without a single win.

Asked by Neha on 16 Jan 2026


What is the word or phrase?


HOROBOD Rebus riddle

Asked by Neha on 10 May 2021

I went to the bookshop and spent one-half of the money that was in my purse.

When I came out, I found that I had as many cents as I had dollars and half as many dollars as I had cents when I went in. Find the money in my purse when I entered the store.

Asked by Neha on 03 Nov 2024

Your last good ping-pong ball fell into a narrow metal pipe embedded one foot deep in concrete.
How can you get it out undamaged, if all the tools you have are your tennis paddle, shoe laces, and plastic water bottle, which does not fit into the pipe?

Asked by Neha on 10 Nov 2024


In a supermarket, there is an intelligent glass pane before a refrigerating unit. This glass pane allows cherries and apples through it but does not allow grapes and Orange to pass through it.

Can you identify the rule that the glass pane is following?

Asked by Neha on 18 Jul 2024

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.