title: Countifs in Excel with list of names as criteria
body: <p>I'm trying to write a countifs formula in Excel using a list of names. The following example illustrates what I would like to accomplish. </p>
  
  <p>Of the members of the Beatles, who said yes? The syntax of the section in bold is where the problem lies.</p>
  
  <p>=COUNTIFS(A1:A9,"YES",B1:B9,<strong>{"JOHN","GEORGE","RINGO","PAUL"}</strong>)</p>
  
  <p>Put differently, I'm trying to "manually select" the names of people who potentially said yes. </p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ucYL0.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>