lyrics problems: Bar_engraver, ß (SS) , ü, hyphens

[Russ Ross]

I've just compiled Lilypond 2.3.18 and noticed a couple of differences
in lyrics output:

Before (in 2.2.x) I'd put this in my \paper section to prevent lyrics
overlapping bar lines:
    \context \LyricsContext \consists "Bar_engraver"
convert-ly changes \LyricsContext to \Lyrics but this no longer seems
to work.  I now have lyrics overlapping bar lines in numerous old
scores.

The second things I noticed was with the German ß character which now
seems to be rendered SS.  Not sure if this is a problem with my setup,
or a bug that has been introduced to Lilypond.  I'm including ß
directly, not using some variation of the TeX/LaTeX \SS.  \"u used to
give a ü character, but now it seems to give a u with a hyphen (or
something) overlapping it.  Has the syntax for these changed, or do I
have something wrong in my setup?

Finally, hyphens within words are not always displaying properly. 
Where before they would be centered between two syllables, now they
sometimes stick to the second syllable.

These seem to happen generally in my old scores, but if you'd like a
specific example of any of these issues I'd be happy to pick out a
sample.

Thanks,

Russ