There is a cleaner way to write complex filters, and the spreadsheet community should pay attention to it. The technique described by user finickyone, using COUNTIF within FILTER instead of stringing together multiple equals signs, is not just a stylistic quirk; it is a fundamental improvement in how we build readable logic. When you write `=FILTER(W,(X=3)+(X=12)+(X=5))`, you are writing a formula that is brittle and opaque. The moment you need to add a fourth value or change a condition, you have to dig into the formula itself, risking a typo or a broken reference. The COUNTIF approach, by contrast, externalizes the criteria. You put your values in Z2:Z4, and the formula becomes `=FILTER(W,COUNTIF(Z2:Z4,X))`. That is a small shift in syntax, but a large shift in maintainability.
What makes this more than a neat trick is the extension into comparison operators. By inverting the logic and using BYROW with a LAMBDA, the same method allows you to place strings like `>=3` or `<>5` directly in the criteria cells. The formula `=FILTER(W,BYROW(X,LAMBDA(i,AND(COUNTIF(i,Z2:Z4)))))` reads as a structured, self-documenting query. You no longer have to guess what the filter is doing by parsing nested arithmetic inside the FILTER function. Instead, you can look at a range of cells and see the rules in plain text. For anyone who has inherited a spreadsheet with a dozen OR conditions buried in a formula, this is the kind of clarity that saves hours of debugging.
We should be honest about the friction here. The technique requires comfort with LAMBDA and BYROW, which are not entry-level functions. That is a barrier, and the user is honest about hitting a wall when trying to scale this to multiple independent criteria sets. The question about getting MAP to parse through reference fields and query fields independently is a real one, and it points to a gap in the current tooling. Spreadsheets have powerful array engines, but the syntax for chaining multiple condition sets often feels like you are fighting the language rather than using it. The community is inventing workarounds that are clever but not yet intuitive.
The concrete takeaway is this: if you are building filters that need to change frequently or that will be maintained by someone else, move your criteria out of the formula and into cells. Start with the COUNTIF pattern for simple OR lists. Graduate to the BYROW pattern when you need comparison operators. The discomfort you feel learning LAMBDA is the price of admission to a spreadsheet that explains itself. The alternative is a formula that works today and confuses everyone tomorrow.