Why was my question deleted with the "Your answer does not answer the original question" reason?
The answers to the meta question you link to recommend answering the original question first, before including your "however you should be doing this instead" answer:
They're more valid if you answer the surface question, and then solve the “but actually your problem is…” problem after.
...
You can hedge your bets a tiny bit by including a preamble that directly answers the superficial question.
But like calling a trick shot in a game of pool, you increase the risk and reward when you do it.
And:
Next, build an answer.
- Start by addressing the question as asked, being respectful of the effort and enthusiasm that went into writing it.
- Move into your "However, there's an even bigger issue here ..."
- End by referencing the conventional wisdom, not because "I said so", but because you built up to it in your answer.
"The normal voting mechanism will decide whether you've succeeded..."
That also indicates to me that downvoting and commenting would be the expected result, rather than a deletion
The answer was flagged as NAA (Not An Answer) and sent into the Low Quality review queue.
Flagging is an alternative to downvoting and commenting.
