stalemate, deadlock, logjam, standoff, dispute, negotiations, disagreement, imbroglio, compromise, wrangling, acrimony, rift, walkout, squabble, intransigence, negotiators, gridlock, negations, bickering, talks, schism, strife, crisis, infighting, haggling, mediation, discord, conflict, feud, mediator, agreement, lockout, limbo, quandary, holdout, indecision, brinkmanship, accord, dickering, conciliation, resolve, tussle, divide, olive branch, tiff, bargaining, dilemma, rancor, contretemps, quarrel, shutdown, predicament, disunity, detente, differences, strike, dissension, modus vivendi, discussions, delay, wildcat strike, loggerheads, confrontation, shortfall, stalling, conundrum, stagnation, tensions, stumbling block, turmoil, intransigency, fence mending, lame duck, morass, truce, quagmire, estrangement, contentiousness, controversy, shuttle diplomacy, dustup, great schism, bottleneck, snag, unrest, consensus, stopgap, imbalance, unity, uncertainty, arbitrator, reconvening, ultimatum, debate, situation, blockade, disarray, vicious cycle, boycott, slump, tripartite, snafu, impasses, quandaries, dilemmas, inadequacy, predicaments, tightrope, inadequacies, issues, alienation, problems, aporia, concerns, decision, hypothesis, multicriteria, abductive, acceptable, approximative, balancing, bayesian, checking, chromatographic, computable, computational, context, definitive, enumerative, geostatistical, heuristic, labeling, matching

sticking point

arrest, check, halt, hitch, stay, stop, stoppage, thoroughfare

blind alley, cul de sac, dead-end street, dead end, standstill