Thanks Paddy.
Indeed a good idea. But alas, no joy- even after restarting (just in case).
It seems I better rethink that comment of mine re Operator Error.
I now suspect the "problem" is not with Safari per-se, but rather with some third party app that works with, or modifies, Safari, such as Pith Helmet, SafariSpeed, Service Scrubber, TinkerTool, etc.
Unless some other clever chap or chappette has a fine suggestion, I may have a great task in store.