{"id":50913,"date":"2025-06-05T13:17:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T18:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=50913"},"modified":"2025-06-07T08:04:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T13:04:25","slug":"prisoner-puzzles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=50913","title":{"rendered":"Prisoner Puzzles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Let’s look at a few of our favorite prisoner puzzles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder G<\/strong> gives us the answers down below.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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100 Prisoners, 100 Boxes, 100 Slips of Paper<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let’s start with one I call “100 Prisoners, 100 Boxes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It goes like this: 100 prisoners are in a waiting room. Each prisoner is numbered one through 100. In the next room, the warden has placed 100 boxes, again each numbered 1 to 100. Inside each box, the warden has randomly placed a slip of paper, again with the number 1 to 100. Each prisoner steps into the room, one by one, and is allowed to open half the boxes. He then steps into a third room, where he has no communication with the waiting prisoners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now, if all 100 prisoners open a box with their number, they will all be set free. If even one prisoner fails to find his number, all the prisoners are executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a way they can dramatically improve their odds?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Two Prisoners, One Checkerboard, 64 Coins, One Key<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is conceptually simple, but the solution is very complicated. Two prisoners – one in a waiting room, the other in a room with the warden. In the room with the warden, there is a chessboard, with each square covered by a coin. The coins are randomly heads or tails. The warden places, randomly, the key to freedom under one coin. The prisoner is then required to flip one, and only one coin. The prisoner leaves, and the prisoner in the waiting room goes into the room with the warden and the chessboard. He is allowed to turn over one coin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If he uncovers the key, both prisoners go free. The two prisoners are allowed to discuss a method beforehand, but can’t communicate one the test begins.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Happy Condemned Man<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Okay, here’s the next puzzle, but it’s really more of a paradox than a puzzle. A prisoner (a really bad dude) is being sentenced by a judge on a Sunday. The judge says, “By next Sunday, a guard will come to your cell at daybreak and take you to the gallows. You will not know beforehand what day the guard will come for you.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The smug prisoner thinks for a moment, then starts to laugh. The judge asks him what he finds funny. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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The prisoner says, “You can’t hang me! If you wait until Sunday, I’ll know you are coming for me. By the same logic, you can’t come for me on Saturday, or Friday….” Anyhow, the guard comes to his cell on Tuesday morning and leads him off the gallows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elder G’s Analysis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Elder G (right) and an Elder representing WLBOTT <\/strong>go on-site to explore these puzzles.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When invited on this adventure, Elder G<\/strong> said, “Well bless your heart, sugar\u2014of course I\u2019ll play along! You just stepped into Miss Patchouli Belle DeVine\u2019s Correctional Curiosity Compound<\/strong>, where the shackles are metaphorical, the puzzles are plentiful, and the sass is as thick as molasses on a summer mornin’<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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100 Prisoners, 100 Boxes, 100 Slips of Paper<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You’re talkin\u2019 about the classic 100 prisoners problem<\/strong>, where intuition says they got a snowball’s chance in Mississippi\u2014but math says otherwise, if they\u2019re clever enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basic Rules Recap:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n