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<p>Moderator hasn't made any prior attempt to clarify the question or help me improve it</p>
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<p>The moderator left <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/624690/clustering-vectors-of-unequal-size?noredirect=1#comment1164071_624690">a comment right below the question</a> that explains exactly why it was closed.</p>
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<p>Moderator chose to act unilaterally, rather than allow the community to judge the question and close it (if necessary) by the customary number of votes.</p>
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<p>There's no <strong>requirement</strong> that a moderator sit back and wait for the community to do anything, as evinced by the fact that a single moderator can close the question. A moderator might <em>choose</em> to wait for the community for any number of reasons, possibly because the moderator is interested in the community's opinion.</p>
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<p>I am looking for a clarification regarding the criteria by which moderators are allowed to close questions without consulting with the OP and the community.</p>
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<p>Off-topic, unclear, overly-broad and other unsuitable questions can be closed by anyone with sufficient privileges. I didn't close it, but I support the decision. Ambiguous and unclear questions of this nature invite irrelevant, ambiguous answers and protracted discussion; that's not how this site works.</p>
<p>The Help Center has more information on how question closure works, how moderation works, and how to ask a good question.</p>
