Cell validation with wildcard match possible?

Hi folks,

I need to apply cell validation to a column of string data whereby the following entries are allowed:

"RELIEF"
"NO USH"
anything matching the pattern "??-??-??*"

I found a solution (of sorts) over at Mr. Excel, which in my case would give me the following custom validation formula:

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...where A1 is the cell being validated.

As you can see however, this validation formula refers directly to the cell being validated, so I would have to use a unique formula for every cell. To put it mildly that would not be very elegant. Also, because the number of rows in my data constantly varies, I would prefer to simply "set and forget" validation for the entire column.

I have a feeling I am missing something obvious!

Any ideas?

The address of the cell is relative, so if you select say A1:A10 and apply that validation (with A1 active) the address used in each cell's validation will alter (just as it does for conditional formatting). Try it and see!