It’s the little things that can drive people insane. For instance, why does a WordPress website sometimes display correctly and allow normal editing in Elementor, but at other times, the entire design is broken? In this case it was due to SSL errors and misconfigurations, which I attribute to cheap hosting services. Siteground, Bluehost, and Godaddy generally awful.
It took some time to diagnose, but this is just another one of the many issues that can be permanently resolved by switching to WP Engine. WP Engine includes built-in SSL, and any rare misconfigurations are immediately addressed by their instantly available 24/7 american support.
http version and what is being seen in the editor:
https version:
Migration underway!