You should re-think your close vote
It is, of course, possible to “think” you know what the question is asking, and prepare for that, without being confident enough to actually post an answer—in that case, a vote to close seeking clarification is appropriate. Answering probably isn’t.
However, in general, we close too many questions. The gatekeeping here has gotten extreme, and our falling activity levels in no way justify it. Questions are often closed seeking clarifications that are irrelevant, unnecessary, or “nice to have,” and they should not be. If you are thinking about answering a question, you should also be thinking about retracting a close vote. It won’t be the right call every time, but it may be some of the time. And the site would likely be better off if more people made that call more of the time. We err far too hard in favor of closure and clarification.
We are not here to seek question nirvana, we are here to solve problems. Good enough to answer is good enough to remain open.
Answering a question you know is problematic and will be closed is poor
Just handling the easy thing first—getting your answer in before 5 close votes have accrued, as a way to evade the site rules, is poor form, and runs the risk of the answer being deleted by moderators. Please don’t do that.
Tangential to the question, I know, but important enough to state at the outset.
Answering a question you “know” is fine but will be closed anyway can be good
Obviously, scare quotes on “know,” but very often experts understand questions that the wider community does not—something that appears unclear to those unfamiliar with the domain can, in fact, be perfectly clear to someone who is. (People probably shouldn’t be voting to close in such cases, but then there is no simple test for someone to know what they don’t know.) Answering such questions can “save” them, by making it clear that they can be answered.
But, of course, for it to be good, you have to be right. Still, no harm (generally), so no foul if you’re wrong.
Still tangential to the question, since you shouldn’t be voting to close such questions.
There is just barely room for both an answer and a close vote
The case is, “This question is borderline, and I think it’s over the line, but I’m not sure if the community agrees with me, and I have what I consider to be the best answer possible under the circumstances.”
This can justify both a close vote and an answer, maybe. It’s usually a mess when it happens, but I have done so a few times and I have seen others with considerable experience and whom I respect here do so sometimes, and it can rarely be the right answer.
Consider: sometimes, the best way to handle a question that could, arguably, be closed, is to answer it and demonstrate the problems with the formulation of the question. Usually such questions are problematic because they turn out to be far broader than the querent thinks they are. Sometimes the best answer is to point that out, and close the question for narrowing. Other times, the best approach is to answer the question and address the unexpected broadness. An answer affords more space to do it, and ultimately, because the user was unaware of the hidden breadth or depth of their query, there is an opportunity there to “answer” their query with the real information they need to know.
Any time that is the case, closure is a consideration. Sometimes I have decided quite unambiguously that a question should not be closed, but other times it’s been less clear. There are times where my answer itself demonstrated why a question should be closed—because I’d write a huge answer discussing various directions and facets of the question and still not coming to a singular answer, as a “see, this is the best the question can be answered, and it’s still not really answered.”
The other concern is Fastest Gun in the West, which shouldn’t be a concern but is. If you think a question should be closed, but it’s borderline and you’re not sure it will be, I think it’s reasonable to also answer it, saying “I don’t really think this question works, but if the community wants it like this, this is my answer.” Not ideal, but then, neither is the Fastest Gun in the West effect itself—it’s just something we have to deal with. Sometimes—rarely—answering and voting to close can be how we deal with it.
