The VFP query optimizer is not documented, so it's always a trial and error to figure out the best query in each case. If you post your new JOIN query I may look over it for any improvements.

>The "improved" query syntax does reduces the query's time by about 25%.
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>It's the still unexplained three orders of magnitude difference (23.6 seconds verses 0.015 seconds) that is the limiting factor here. 25% off of 23.6 seconds is, of course, insufficient for a workaround.
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>Is it your understanding that tags, keys, and collation sequences, alone, should dictate the showplan results of two similarly sized .DBCs?
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>Next step: My manager has asked me to make a copy of the fast "development" .DBC, zap the tables, import the "production" data, and then see what happens. I will post the results.