Without creating a circular reference, is it possible to place a dropdown in
a cell whereby when the user makes a selection (alpha and not numeric) the
cell the dropdown is in will change color based on the selection from the
dropdown?

I noticed that the Conditional Formatting dropdown only allows for 3 options
(if, then, else?) I recently set up a form using numeric entries that worked
fine but have a requirement to set up a scenario whereby the cell starts off
blank... user selects A from dropdown and cell turns red/white type... or B
and cell turns green/white type... or C and cell turns white/black type.
This is replicated 36 times on a rating form (protected sheet/workbook) in
Excel 2003.

Can this be accomplished? Is any of the process dependent on whether the
cell/worksheet/workbook is protected? My thanks for any assistance with this
problem.... regards