Ponders strange answer (7)
I believe the answer is:
respond
'answer' is the definition.
(I know that answer can be written as respond)
'ponders strange' is the wordplay.
'strange' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ponders' is an anagram of 'RESPOND'.
(Other definitions for respond that I've seen before include "Answer or react" , "Come back" , "Answer back" , "Write back" , "State in reply" .)