What happens with the questions with no accepted answer?

Question

There are many questions in PSE with a few answers (or sometimes no answers at all) which do not yet have any accepted answer with tick mark even though many weeks or months have passed. Shouldn't the OP give the correct answer after a certain period of time? Or is it left open so that future users can also try their head into trying to solve them?

I am asking this because many people try to answer the questions; and if, even after a certain period of time, they do not know the what actual answer should have been, I guess all their effort somehow feels wasted without a proper closure. They also can't understand exactly how they should have approached the question.

Answer 1

While it would be nice for the OP to provide the correct answer if no one else is able to, there are a few reasons why that might not happen:

1. The OP doesn't know the answer. Sometimes people post puzzles in the hopes of getting help with the solution, and may not know the answer themselves.
2. The OP is still hopeful that someone might solve it. There have been puzzles that have sat dormant for months or even years, and then have been solved. The OP might be holding out.
3. The OP is no longer active on the site, and has essentially "abandoned" the puzzle.
4. Something else. There are many potential reasons why someone might not post an answer, but I think the 3 above are the most likely.