In E1:
=ISNUMBER(MATCH(1,(A1=$C$1:$C$100)*(B1=$D$1:$D$100 ),0))
and drag down

This is an array formula. Hit ctrl-shift-enter instead of enter. If you do it
correctly, excel will wrap curly brackets {} around your formula. (don't type
them yourself.)

Adjust the range to match--but you can only use the whole column in xl2007.

brents18 wrote:

I am trying to compare four columns of text, say A-D, such that if the paired
combination of cells A2 and B2 can be found as a combination of the same pair
text ANYWHERE in columns C and D, I would get "true". I.e., I want to search
for all the A+B combos in corresponding C+D columns
example:

A B C D E
1 oak tree bird dog true
2 gold brick oak brick false
3 dumb bunny oak tree false

The process found the combination for A1+B1 in C3+D3; I would want to do
the same for gold+brick and dumb+bunny, etc.etc. Geez I'm worn out trying
different combos of "logic."

--

Dave Peterson