Explain this crossword answer to me

You are correct. It appeared on Sunday, May 9, 1993 ( Sunday, May 9, 1993 NYT crossword by Irene Smullyan) which was Mother’s Day that year.

Wonderful - that cite also confirms that the OP transcribed clues 4 and 5 the wrong way round, so the missing letters did in fact spell MOTHER in the correct order in the original.

FWIW, I stress the syllables in Budapest and anapest exactly the same way.

So do I, but which way is it?

Ummm … hard / light / slightly harder than the middle one?

OK, that’s the same as the way I stress it.