A Logic Puzzle. The two prisoners. #Puzzle #logic #brainteasers #brainteaser

1 Mar 2025 · 1 min

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Two prisoners in separate cells each see their own coin flip and must guess the other's result. Both die if both guess wrong, both live if both guess right, and one lives if only one guesses correctly. Can they agree on a strategy beforehand that guarantees at least one survives?

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Here's a little logic puzzle which I think you may enjoy. 2 prisoners are put into separate cells where they cannot communicate, and in each cell a coin will be tossed. So each prisoner can see the result of the toss of the coin in their cell, and then as soon as they see that, they have to guess what the result is in the other cell. So their coin may come down heads or tails, they have to guess heads or tails for the other coin, which they cannot see, they cannot hear, They don't know what it is, but they have to guess. Now then, if both of them guess wrong, they are executed. If one of them guesses right, then they get another guess, and that— the one who guessed right has his freedom. If they both guess right, they're both freed. And, and this goes on. If one's right and one's wrong, then they do it again and again and again. And if at any stage they're both wrong, they both get executed. But is there a way in which they can survive? They can agree a strategy so that one of them is saved at one stage and one of them saved at another stage, or they're both saved by both guessing right. Is there a strategy they can adopt? That is the challenge.