Someone found a fix for it and it worked for me. If you re-install the Safari package again, it resolves the issue. Looks like it was the "combo" update that broke safari by installing things in the wrong order, which probably is why only some people were affected. Also "why software is hard".
[0] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/safari-14-1-is-complete...
[1] https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15675/apple-safari