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On one question I asked a while back, I wanted an answer about how a particular topic was addressed in Star Trek (specifically in Star Trek: Voyager). I don't know what I was thinking when I picked one answer as an official answer, since it really didn't address my question.

It's something I've always wondered (how a series made in the 1990s would address the devastating Eugenics Wars that happened just before or during that time if that period of history had to be referenced). Tonight I was posting another question and thinking, "Well, I really still don't know this..." Then, after searching, I realized I had forgotten I had asked that and, apparently, picked an answer that didn't directly answer the question.

What options are open to address this? I can't unselect an answer at this point and if I re-ask the question, it becomes a duplicate. How can I fix this goof up so it's possible to get a good answer to this question? (And, no, I was NOT drunk when I picked the answer! If I drink, I make sure my browser and email programs are shut down and won't let myself use them!)


I've updated this because the original link was to the question I had just asked and not to the one I wanted to ask about.

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    Wait, why can't you unaccept? Also I don't think that was the link you intended Apr 2, 2016 at 6:25
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    You could offer a bounty for a good answer to your question.
    – user14111
    Apr 2, 2016 at 9:58
  • @JasonBaker: Yeah, fixed the link issue.
    – Tango
    Apr 2, 2016 at 20:31

1 Answer 1

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Are you sure you can't unaccept the currently accepted answer?

According to main meta's canonical guidance:

You may change which answer is accepted, or simply un-accept the answer, at any time.

If this is wrong or outdated and you really can't unaccept, then (at a wild guess) maybe editing your question or the accepted answer would allow you to unaccept it?

As @user14111 mentioned in a comment, you can also start a bounty on the question to draw more attention to it, if none of the current answers are good enough. Even if you can't unaccept the current top answer for whatever reason, the offer of 50 or 100 points for a better one will make up for not being able to award it 15 points and a green tick!

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  • Okay, I must be coming in from an alternate universe, since I could swear we were limited in changing answers and, once an answer was picked, could only change or unaccept when a new answer was added.
    – Tango
    Apr 2, 2016 at 20:32
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    @Tango Maybe that used to be the case, but SE have changed it in the last few years? (Compared to you, I'm a newbie here!)
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Apr 2, 2016 at 20:33
  • Well, that's part of the issue with my issue I mention in my other question: I'm not here but so often. And, in this case, I had thought, "I can't change this unless someone's added a new answer because of the rules." So either my memory is fubar (it's happened), or it's been changed. I unaccepted the answer and offered a bounty on the question. Thanks!
    – Tango
    Apr 2, 2016 at 20:37
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    @Tango: You may be confusing it with votes, which are locked (after a short grace period) until the post is edited.
    – chirlu
    Apr 3, 2016 at 18:59
  • @chirlu: I don't always get by SE:SF&F as often as I'd like - sometimes it can be weeks. I know in one case I posted a question that was answered and later got notice of a new answer, so I checked it out and thought, "I don't have time to compare now. I'll leave the browser tab open and go over it after the weekend, when I have time. That was on Thursday or Friday. I came back to it and couldn't select the new answer. I think, at the time, I had 48 hours after first seeing the new answer, to change my selection.
    – Tango
    Apr 4, 2016 at 17:32

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