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I just had a look at again a typical question about geometry.

The question starts by a rectangle, called $ABCD$.

Problem: there are two "kinds" of rectangles $ABCD$:

The "Joe sixpack" kind (you ask a regular person to draw a rectangle $ABCD$, this is what you get):
enter image description here

In this case, the question treats about this situation:
enter image description here

The "mathematical" kind (according to mathematical agreements, this is what you should get):
enter image description here

In this case, the question treats about this situation:
enter image description here

How does the site deal with such "unclarities"?

  • Create a set of rules, in order to avoid them?
  • State that geometrical question almost always need to be illustrated?
  • ... (other proposal)
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    $\begingroup$ I think you just assume it's what you call "the mathematical kind," unless there is evidence to the contrary. I would. $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Commented Jun 27 at 12:46

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I would treat it like any other unclear question:

  • Leave a comment, asking for clarification.
  • If the author does not respond, vote to close as “Needs details or clarity.”

Regarding your suggestions:

Create a set of rules, in order to avoid them?

In all areas of mathematics there are cases where different conventions are used by different people, I doubt that it is possible to create a ”set of rules” that covers all situations (and that everyone agrees upon).

State that geometrical question almost always need to be illustrated?

An illustration can often help to clarify geometrical problems. (Of course it should never be the only sources of information: Why image cannot be used for explaining my maths problem?) But I would rather leave it to the author of the question to find the best way to explain a problem, instead of requiring images for questions in a certain category, like geometry.

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    $\begingroup$ This leaves us with the bizarre situation that I have upvoted the mentioned question in order to give the author enough reputation to actually add an image :-) $\endgroup$
    – Dominique
    Commented Jun 27 at 8:05
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    $\begingroup$ "And we can not require an illustration” : not true. New users (rep < 10) can routinely upload an image and then provide a link to that image in the posted question. It is fairly common practice that an experienced MathSE reviewer, when encountering such a situation, will edit the posted question, adding the! symbol, so that the image is imbedded into the post. ...see next comment $\endgroup$
    – user2661923
    Commented Jun 27 at 17:22
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    $\begingroup$ When I encounter such a problem that I believe would benefit from an image, I will typically leave a comment like $$\cdots$$ If an illustrative image was provided it would make the question easier to attack. For help managing an image, see the Images section, at the bottom of this article and see also this article. $\endgroup$
    – user2661923
    Commented Jun 27 at 17:23
  • $\begingroup$ @user2661923: Yes, you are right, thanks for the feedback. I have removed/rewritten that part. $\endgroup$
    – Martin R
    Commented Jun 27 at 19:00

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