Koala sleeping on a tree top (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Visual Description: Up a tree, Down Under.
PELEO = ELOPE, DUFAR = FRAUD, LAKAIL = ALKALI, YASLAW = ALWAYS — Giving us: OEFADKIAL
Clue/Question: The Australian marsupial was hired by the tree trimming service because he was – – –
Female Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) at Billabong Koala and Aussie Wildlife Park, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. Français : Un Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) femelle. Photo prise dans le Billabong Koala and Aussie Wildlife Park, à Port Macquarie, dans la Nouvelle Galles du Sud (Australie). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Answer: “KOALA–FIED“
(Koala dung stinky pun!!! Of course, I have no idea how bad koala dung smells. Heck, all they eat is eucalyptus leaves, so how bad can it be? On the poop-scale, I mean.
There are no new clue words today, but all but the one for “always” are new jumbles. The answer letter layout was nicely cryptic. No give away there. And, the cartoon is very cute. Kind of an Australian Boo-boo bear. Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
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Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
I got the answer without solving alkali. I knew I needed a k and an I, because they had to be talking koala, and f,e,d worked well with -fied, but I still couldn’t back into alkali! Technically, I wouldn’t call alkali an ordinary word.
I told somebody who was pondering over the third word … it’s BASIC. She got it then!
Whatever it takes, Fritz! But, if you can find a word in an ordinary dictionary it’s an ordinary word. Don’t be one of those science-phobes, my friend. — YUR
I don’t think I am a science-phobe, but I have learned to define ordinary word broadly to include anything in Merriam-Webster!!! Cheers
Fritz,
Didn’t mean it to sound like an accusation. More of a word to the wise. No doubt you’ve found it in Merriam-Webster’s, so we’re all on the same page. Weird chemical combinations and funky medical terminology aren’t found there, but the more *basic* terms are! — YUR
hal,
I certainly can’t take credit for the joke I just made, now can I??? I never said I was original, friends! — YUR
No, Unc Rave, but you could never LYE about it, either!