If that's a virus infection then the suckers may also be infected. If you did try to start a few suckers the virus would probably show up before they're transplanted. Might be worth a try?

I Thought virus infection too; then I thought they might have been hit with Round Up. GIven your garden, it is probably virus. I imagine that Round Up is forbidden anywhere near your garden.

Kate - yes, Round Up is not my thing, but since I live in a row house in close quarters with seemingly an entire city block, I suspect some neighbors do use herbicides and I may be getting drift. So maybe that's what happened?

Over the past 30+ years here, I've had mysterious deaths of various plants (flowers, shrubs and veggies) that are on the edges of the yard, the parts that abut neighbors. This year a clematis took a hit - for the second time. It got "something" several years ago, survived, and was huge and full until this year, when it died almost all the way back. And also a patch of daisies next to the fence dividing the yards.

But this particular tomato is in the middle of the yard, so further away from potential drift. But then again, by "futher" I mean it's in the middle of my 16 ft wide yard, so not "that" far away from any drifting herbicides.

I've cut some suckers that look healthy towards the bottom and will root them. We'll see if theyr'e also infected when they grow. I can't decide if I should pull this tomato or not - if it's something that spreads, don't want to make other plants sick.

It sounds like your plant was grown from whatever fell on the ground (?) In that case, they probably aren't bred to be free from viruses. Then it would be more likely to get one of the disease that attack them more frequently.

If your tomato has a virus, like verticulum wilt, then the cuttings will have it too. You're better off buying a new tomato plant with a variety bred to be resistant than to root cuttings of a sick plant.

Verticillium Wilt of Tomato Plant: Symptoms, Prevention & Management - The Scientific Gardener

Kate - it's a Brandywine I started from seed, hardened off in mid-April and put in the ground in early May. It was seemingly healthy until last week when the top leaves started curling. And nothing else around that plant (sage, coneflower, daisies) is looking sick so maybe it's not herbicide drift from a neighbor.

Sigrid - I'm rooting the cuttings to see what happens but also started a few new seeds. Don't have anymore Brandywine seeds but had a few Brad's Atomic. We have a decently long season until early November so hopefully they have time to mature. I'm to cheap to spend $4 on a seedling from the store, also too lazy to run an errance to the store. ; )

And so far, the other tomatoes seem OK - 2 sungolds, a purple cherokee, and a celebrity (all started, hardened off, and planted at the same time as the Brandywine).

Thank you, everyone, for the input!

I think that "drift" is underappreciated. I have a friend that lost everything along the back fence. Turnsout that that the person behind the fence sprayed everything liberally to stop new growth of "weeds".... that included her plants!

Kind of late - and wondering what's going on weeks later, but FWIW, there is a virus called 'curly top' that can look like that. We get 'em all down here in hot humidity central.

Here's an article I found...

https://www.ky3.com/content/news/twisted-tomatoes-sw-mo-433958283.html

Carol - the article pics look exactly like my plant. Maybe that’s it? I dug it up and have it in a pot, and moved it away from other plants. It’s still curled on top but growing. Almost 5’ tall now. But no flowers. No other plant in the yard seems affected so I’ll just let it do its thing and see what happens. The suckers are also growing at a seemingly normal rate. No sign of curling on them so far.
Sad if I don’t get any brandywines this year.