Isn't it unusual for a moderator to close a question that has been open for several days, has no downvotes, and no votes-to-close? Aren't such matters generally left to users who have the voting privileges? math.stackexchange.com/questions/4279701/…

@GerryMyerson Open for several days - is 1 day too many for you? Also it asks more than 1 question that is why it is closed by Xander

@GerryMyerson Excellent point, @Gerry. Most often he seeks user input, with the plea "I'm reluctant to vote unilaterally"; but it's quite clear, not in this case. Especially frustrating is the lack of comment to the OP, etc. Nor is he seeking user feedback much at all these days. Unfortunately, Xander rarely responds to valid questions like yours.

@GerryMyerson Generally, but if a question is clearly off-topic some moderators can save the rest of the community the trouble and close it anyway. There's no rule against it and it's not irreversible.

@Mast Kind of weird that you have to speak for a moderator on this site, to whom the question was directed. But no surprise, here. I understand; I know network mods are "loyal" to each other, no matter what, and also CMs, loyal to site mods, no matter what.

Maybe by Mon, October 25, or Monday, Nov. 1, we'll see Xander in this room? But @Mast, do not mistaken this chat room, for conversing with Math mods, with your network wide mod lounge/coffee room. I understand the mod brotherhood thingy, but, aren't you needed in the site you moderate? Just curious ...

@amWhy I do not speak for anyone but myself. However, I am a moderator and I too close questions unilaterally at times.

You didn't direct the question to a moderator at all, there was no ping to one.

You can ping a moderator by adding an @ in front of their name. Like this: @Xander

Please take a look at the chapter under Unacceptable Behavior in the Code of Conduct. I've been very, very patient with your behavior and there's such a thing as going too far @amWhy

@Jitendra, the question was posted on 18 October, and closed by moderator on 22 October. That's several days, not one day.

@Mast, I accept that if a question is clearly off-topic then it's not unusual for a moderator to take unilateral action. But this question was not off-topic, and was not closed as being off-topic – it was closed as lacking focus.

@Mast, Also: in your reply to amWhy, you wrote, "You didn't direct the question to a moderator at all...." But of course amWhy did not ask the question. I did. And I know perfectly well how to ping someone. I didn't see the need to ping any one specific person. This is the Math Mods' Office, for informal chat with the site moderators... I expected that, sooner or later, one Math Mod or another would come by to engage with my question.

@GerryMyerson On-topic questions should not be closed. Not by moderators, not by anyone. I can't speak to whether it was on-topic or not. But if a moderator closes a question, they tend to have a reason for it. If you want to know the reason, in my experience it works best to ping them.

Possibly it was a mistake. We all make mistakes.

I don't know.

But if you want to make sure someone gets your message, a ping is the way to go. They're not intrusive, as long as they're not overused.

I know some of the moderators get swamped with work at times. Happens to me as well.

@GerryMyerson It is not uncommon for a moderator to take action on a post when that post is brought to the attention of the moderation team via flags.

In this case, the question was asking for solutions to at least two different exercises. This is, in my opinion, a clear case of the question being too broad.