Thank you Vincent and AmberV for those replies.
I’ve zipped and uploaded a Word 2007 docx file that when brought into S by either direct pasting, importing, or by external sync, shows the problem.
Usually, I work in Word with rtf files generated by the Scriv sync process, which get opened, edited, and saved in Word as rtf. When synced back, bullets show up as displayed in the OP.
Those “fractional” bullet characters also happen when simply pasting from Word to Scrivener, regardless of where the doc originated or whether it was saved. Likewise, when a docx file is imported as a docx.
Once the list is in Scrivener, the bullets can be corrected, more or less, using Scriv’s bullets dropdown. But when doing that on multiple paragraphs at a time the results start getting messy in ways that are reminiscent of the “unstable dynamite” issues with lists where they break when edited.
I realize that seeking support on compatibility for a program 16 years out of date is just asking to be yelled at. (Thanks for not doing that… yet… 
) In fact, I will likely be updating my computer and Office software soon. But am hoping to find out, before I do, that this problem in particular is due to my old software, and will be solved by the upgrades. Is the attached file of any use in that?
Word 2007 bullets to Scrivener.zip (19.8 KB)