Slider on Static Home Page Gone After Upgrade to WP 3.5

I upgraded to WP v. 3.5.1 recently, and for the most part, have been pretty content. Just one major headache: sticky post sliders no longer show up on static pages. And it’s not just the theme I’m using [ Esplanade 1.1.2 (latest)]–I tried a number of them that had that functionality previously; none work. The only appearance of the slider is if “use latest posts” is selected, or on the designated “posts” page, when using the “use static page” option.

But that’s not what’s needed. Slider on static home page is.

Is there a simple way to do this? Or can the changes that relate to this be provided so that I know where to start?

I spent a day rolling back to earlier versions, switching themes, examining and comparing files (i.e. index.php, functions.php, slider.php, etc.), reading through WP codex and jumping in the PHP deep end, just to find myself flailing about with no resolution. The torment is reaching tantalusian proportions.

Oh ye gods of WordPress, how this humble lady whose delirium grows by the hour, would appreciate a sip of water…