Updates... The new clockspring came in today from ford
The part number on the outside of the box was "AA" but the internal part was "AB".
I pulled this diagram and tested the connectors. Everything lines up properly, and all of the buttons work, as well as the hot wire feeding the buttons.
Here is my button model number (it has backlight):
Clockspring to vehicle wiring harness connector:
Steering wheel part number:
Clockspring part number:
This leads me to believe the only remaining troubleshooting option is to find someone with IDS to check the "speed control" and make sure it is "present". This shouldn't be that hard.
That being said, if that fixes it, I have a brand new clockspring and used set of cruise buttons for sale soon. lol