If I can enter any number from the keyboard (it's not irrational), should WA return, at least, some info about that number?

What does it mean if it returns immediately (doesn't exceed comp time) and tells me to try to ask my question differently?

From the FAQ:

"How much math can Wolfram|Alpha do? Pretty much anything that's possible using today's best algorithms—subject only to the constraint that the computations must complete in the time Wolfram|Alpha has available."

I'm decent with numbers and math, but this has me a little stumped. Or, at least, confused.

Is it that WA just finds these numbers too boring? Or is this an obscure bug? I'm a computer guy, so it seems buggy.

Thanks.