Michael: thanks for your valuable insights! I’m pretty sure I’ve performed all of the checks you mention but I’ll revisit the whole process in hopes of spotting something I might have missed.
mulkitpin: dope! that might as well be the solution to the whole problem: a conflict due to a somewhat bad interaction with regards to how the latest version of Elementor handles Yoast SEO integration when modifying pages/templates.
I’ll let you guys know how it goes and once again thanks a bunch in advance for all your help in helping me sort this thing out!!!