Thank you so much for your help! I had seen different comments of this issue wherein polygon modelers seem to have a hard time reprogramming their thinking to better leverage NURBS modeling.

I took your advice and tried approaching the shape differently. I redrew the curves based on the silhouette of the object, and then boolean those curves into an oblong ellipse. You were right, and it worked this time (see attached). In fact, the 'nose' piece, that contains the rounded curve at the tip, was also causing some issues where the fillet was too large. Of course dialing down the size resolved this. Thanks again for your input (from the man himself no less (!)

WoW! I was busy trying to remodel that shape and noticed there were new responses. Really incredible support you all, thank you so much!

@BurrMan, I just watched your video and thank you for sharing. It was good to watch a more experienced user approach the problem from a different angle. I noticed your use of network to address a lot of the curves, good call.

No worries cj,

Michales response is the one to REALLY pay attention to for your future endeavors...

Peace out.