THE NATIONS: Solution by Gromyko

Question: After eleven weeks in Paris, what were the Big Four deputies talking about? Answer: Asterisks.

Russia's Andrei Gromyko last week insisted on listing German demilitarization as the first topic on the proposed agenda for a Foreign Ministers' Conference. Western deputies wanted it further down on the list, with a footnote stating for the record that the deputies could not agree on its position. Gromyko proffered the great compromise: put the item in both places, each with an asterisk referring to the footnote. The West agreed.