Hi I tried all of that…but unfortunately it doesnt work.
If I under Appearance -> customize -> put the blog posts under a page called “test” (a passsword protected page) then the page is displayed with password. If I change that and now direct the blog posts to be under a page called “test2” (also a password protected page), then no password is needed for test2 to see the blog, but the page called “test” now needs the password.
Whatever page has the blog posts is not password protected.