LEAD: Fourteen postal employees and three associates in New York City were accused yesterday of using their post-office know-how to win a 1987 Super Bowl ''Pick the Score'' contest.

Super Bowl Score: Giants 39, Broncos 20, Cheaters $85,000

LEAD: A dispute between New York City and the developer who built a mid-Manhattan skyscraper 11 feet too tall has been tentatively settled, with the developer agreeing to construct rehearsal space, cut down parapets and drop his lawsuit against the city.

Pact Reached On Skyscraper Built Too Tall

LEAD: Several of the leading Wall Street firms yesterday reported generally weaker first-quarter earnings, reflecting the stock market's continued sluggishness since the crash of last October.

Profits Off at Several Wall St. Firms

LEAD: E. Robert Heller, a governor of the Federal Reserve, said today that he saw few signs of the kinds of pressures - rising inflation or a sinking dollar - that would persuade the Fed to raise interest rates.

Fed's Heller Finds Little Price Peril

LEAD: When Pepsico and the International Business Machines Corporation began building offices in neighboring Somers a few years ago, this rural town at the top of Westchester County started considering ways to ward off developers.

When Development Becomes Divisive

LEAD: In a spring of turmoil, even many top students have not been accepted by any school. Page B11.

College Rejections Abound

LEAD: Over a century ago, Henry Wheaton and Richard Peters fought in a celebrated case for the right to be the reporter of the United States Supreme Court's decisions. Now the modern-day equivalent of the Wheaton-Peters fight is playing itself out in a bitter feud between the two largest computerized research services used by lawyers, judges and academics: Lexis and

Lawsuits Over Law Research

Introducing Bach, and Others, Behind Bars

LEAD: A special advisory board has unanimously recommended that Mayor Koch appoint Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, to be the New York City Chief Medical Examiner, city officials said last night.

Panel Suggests Replacement For Dr. Gross

LEAD: CAREN CAMP of Middleburg, Va., a 35-year-old cosmetics executive, was a highly motivated career woman when she left her job in 1986 to concentrate on rearing her infant son. Carolyn Brown, 38, was a high-ranking manager for A.T.&T in Washington when she quit in 1987 to devote more time to her two children.

Professional Women Do Go Home Again

LEAD: Two competing bidders disclosed yesterday that they were trying to work out a deal for the joint purchase of J.P. Stevens & Company, one of the nation's leading producers of sheets and towels, for $68.50 a share, or $1.22 billion, in cash. No details were given, but analysts speculated that, if a deal were reached, the buyers would split up the company.

2 Competing Bidders Weigh A Joint Purchase of Stevens

LEAD: Gov. Michael S. Dukakis took a major stride toward the Democratic Presidential nomination yesterday by soundly defeating the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the New York primary and driving Senator Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee into a poor third-place finish.

JACKSON FAR AHEAD OF GORE, WHO MAY QUIT

LEAD: The hijackers of a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet freed their last hostages here early this morning, apparently concluding a 15-day siege.

Hijackers of Kuwaiti Jet Free Captives in Algiers

LEAD: Mayor Koch, whose repeated attacks on the Rev. Jesse Jackson overwhelmed the New York Democratic Presidential primary, conceded last night that his combative tactics had not helped his choice in the race, Senator Albert Gore Jr. ''There's no sense in rehashing the battle, and I think that the exit polls show that, 2 to 1, people did not like my criticisms of Jackson,'' Mr.

Koch Says He Didn't Help Gore; Voters Say He Didn't Help Debate

LEAD: Several major banking companies announced strong increases in first- quarter profits yesterday, led by Citicorp, the nation's largest, whose net income rose 34.1 percent, to $358 million.

Net Up Sharply at Major Banks

LEAD: Murders in Queens, where the flourishing crack trade has led to increasing violence, rose 25 percent last year, the New York City Police Department reported yesterday.

Murders in Queens Rise 25%; Crack Is Key Factor

LEAD: AMERICANS are eating too much fat, but you knew that already. What you may not know is that the Government's agriculture policies are partly responsible for encouraging this overconsumption.

U.S. and Consumer Can Play a Role In Trimming Fat

LEAD: IT didn't seem to have the hallmarks of a culinary success.

Plebeian Potato And Costly Lobster On the Same Plate

BUSINESS DIGEST

LEAD: ONCE or twice a week, 15-year-old Jenna Bateman of Pittsburgh makes dinner for her family because her parents arrive home from work too late or too tired to cook. ''Sometimes after a long day, I don't feel like doing it either,'' Miss Bateman said. ''But it doesn't usually bother me.''

Teen-Agers Invade the Kitchen; Not Even Shopping Is Safe

INSIDE

LEAD: It was all quiet out in Iowa yesterday, according to Atlanta Constance Sampson, who misses New York but isn't ambulatory enough to live here anymore. Ms. Sampson is a 91-year-old artist who just moved back home to Toeterville, thereby raising the town's population to 71. She left her paintings and watercolors behind, however, a lifetime's work, and next month she is to have her first one-woman show here - her first show anywhere, for that matter.

About New York; An Artist at 91: Her First Show Outside the Deli

LEAD: The much-delayed bailout of the First City Bancorporation of Texas was all but completed late today after an investor group headed by A. Robert Abboud agreed to buy securities tendered by a majority of First City's stockholders and bondholders.

Bailout Plan For First City Clears Hurdle

LEAD: The House of Representatives today approved a bill renewing Federal education programs over the next five years. The vote was 397 to 1.  Senate approval, and signing by President Reagan, are expected swiftly, with both parties planning to use education as a major election-year campaign issue.

A 5-Year Extension Of Education Law Adopted by House

LEAD: For the first time since Gary Hart's front-running candidacy abruptly fell apart last spring, the shape of this fall's general election has come into sharp focus: politicians around the country now believe that Vice President Bush is highly likely to face Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in

The Look for Fall: Bush vs. Dukakis

Brandon Kyle Belt, nicknamed "Baby Giraffe", "Sparky", and "Captain", is an American professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.

April 20, 1988

Headlines from April 20, 1988

Super Bowl Score: Giants 39, Broncos 20, Cheaters $85,000

Pact Reached On Skyscraper Built Too Tall

Profits Off at Several Wall St. Firms

Fed's Heller Finds Little Price Peril

When Development Becomes Divisive

Billboard 200

Dirty Dancing

Bad

More Dirty Dancing

Faith

Kick

Notable Births

Historical Context for April 20, 1988