Kim Clift, age 11, of Jenks, Oklahoma, for her question:

How long does Andy keep his questions?

It takes quite a while for Andy to read through his huge mail bag. He tries to select questions likely to interest a lot of readers. He hopes to give those who do not get awards something they will want to read, instead. This pondering and selection of suitable questions may take two months. Then it takes about two weeks to gather the research material, and the answers must be finished at least a mouth before you read them. All this time adds up to three months or more. It is necessary to keep the 12 postal cards he selects each week, maybe forever. But the rest of this mail must be destroyed. After all, your questions are to Andy and nobody else should get hold of this private correspondence.

An interesting question may be asked by dozens of readers    and only one of these pen pals can be selected for the column. But the column is not a contest. You can ask as often as you choose. So do not be unhappy if Andy selected someone else who asked your question. Ask another one. And if your question of three months ago was never answered for anybody, send it in again. Maybe this time it will be answered in the column.