clicking on Finder/Desktop doesn't bring up open finder windows like it used to
I found a similar, but not exact question here. I have noticed recently (don't recall which update exactly), that when I click on the desktop, it doesn't bring open finder windows to the foreground, like it used to. I have to click on Command-N to open a new window to search or find something. When I am done with other work and start closing windows, I find an excessive number of finder windows open because of all the times I had to open a new finder window rather than use an open but hidden one. Am I the only one super annoyed by this? Is there a way to make it work the way it used to?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.7