The Help Center article on how to write a good answer contains the following section:
Not all questions can or should be answered here. Save yourself some frustration and avoid trying to answer questions which...
- ...are unclear or lacking specific details that can uniquely identify the problem.
- ...solicit opinions rather than facts.
- ...have already been asked and answered many times before.
- ...require too much guidance for you to answer in full, or request answers to multiple questions.
- ...are not about the software that powers the Stack Exchange network as defined in the help center.
The various bullet points here parallel the close reasons; in other words, it seems to be saying that you should not answer a question that should be closed (presumably because it should be closed instead).
The bullet point corresponding to duplicates (#3) is worded interestingly. Instead of referring to questions that "have been asked and answered before", it refers to questions that "have been asked and answered many times before". The implication of this is that it is okay to answer a question that has been asked once or even a few times before, as long as it has not been asked many times before.
Is this implication intended? I.e. is the official guidance that it is okay to answer duplicates up to a certain point? If not, can the implication be removed (by getting rid of the words "many times")?
