That says that the DNS server didn't answer - for whatever reason - despite the address of that server being determined. It could have been a form of HN's "hug of death" where the website temporarily goes down when many people start to view it in a short period of time.
> ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0
That says that the DNS server didn't answer - for whatever reason - despite the address of that server being determined. It could have been a form of HN's "hug of death" where the website temporarily goes down when many people start to view it in a short period of time.