Glup. :) The manual is giving a simpler, more accurate (index usage) answer: SELECT l.* , b.name As poly_name FROM polys As b INNER JOIN compounds As l ON (p.the_geom && b.the_geom AND ST_Relate(l.the_geom, b.the_geom,'T********')); (http://postgis.refractions.net/docs/ST_Relate.html) nico