For what it's worth, I have found that the problem only occurs when I make one of the three CuteEditor controls visible. That doesn't mean the problem lies with CuteEditor, but CE is a required ingredient. I have not been able to repro the problem in a simpler application, just as the problem did not repro in the Multiple.aspx sample.
Has anybody had this unresponsive script problem with Firefox 2.0 or 1.5? I did try running Firefox in Safe Mode, and that did not help. Looks like it's going to be a long day...