Formula to select highest date from array within specific constraints - excel

Question

I'm looking for a formula to return one of six possible results based on which date (if any) is the highest out of all dates available that fall within a specific date range.
Consider the following layout:
Cell A1 has a fixed date (this is my lower constraint)
Cell A2 has a fixed date (this is my upper constraint)
Cells G5:K5 may contain dates or they may be blank.
If G5 and H5 both contain dates and both of those dates are between my dates in A1 and A2, then I want the result of my formula to identify which of those two is the most recent (it can show the date itself, the column header, a text string, doesn't matter as long as it is something different for each column)
If any of G5:K5 also contain other dates that fall outside of the window defined by A1 & A2 then those dates should be ignored.
If none of the dates are within the permitted range or all of the cells are blank then it can return a string like "not applicable" or an error that I can rewrite using IFERROR.
My dataset is pretty big (I'll be copying this formula down several hundred rows) so I would prefer to avoid using an {array} formula if possible - too slow. I've been staring at this worksheet long enough for my brain to have turned to mush, so if there is a straightforward approach to reaching my goal it is currently eluding me.
Any assistance greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Figured it out in the end. It's not pretty, but it works.
This part returns the highest valid date:
MAX(IF(AND(G5>=$A$1,G5<=$A$2),G5,0),IF(AND(H5>=$A$1,H5<=$A$2),H5,0),IF(AND(I5>=$A$1,I5<=$A$2),I5,0),IF(AND(J5>=$A$1,J5<=$A$2),J5,0),IF(AND(K5>=$A$1,K5<=$A$2),K5,0))
And then by nesting it I can convert the results to a different text string depending on which column contains the "winner".
=IF(AND(MAX(IF(AND(G5>=$A$1,G5<=$A$2),G5,0),IF(AND(H5>=$A$1,H5<=$A$2),H5,0),IF(AND(I5>=$A$1,I5<=$A$2),I5,0),IF(AND(J5>=$A$1,J5<=$A$2),J5,0),IF(AND(K5>=$A$1,K5<=$A$2),K5,0))=G5,G5<>""),"CA",IF(AND(MAX(IF(AND(G5>=$A$1,G5<=$A$2),G5,0),IF(AND(H5>=$A$1,H5<=$A$2),H5,0),IF(AND(I5>=$A$1,I5<=$A$2),I5,0),IF(AND(J5>=$A$1,J5<=$A$2),J5,0),IF(AND(K5>=$A$1,K5<=$A$2),K5,0))=H5,H5<>""),"MX",IF(AND(MAX(IF(AND(G5>=$A$1,G5<=$A$2),G5,0),IF(AND(H5>=$A$1,H5<=$A$2),H5,0),IF(AND(I5>=$A$1,I5<=$A$2),I5,0),IF(AND(J5>=$A$1,J5<=$A$2),J5,0),IF(AND(K5>=$A$1,K5<=$A$2),K5,0))=I5,I5<>""),"BR",IF(AND(MAX(IF(AND(G5>=$A$1,G5<=$A$2),G5,0),IF(AND(H5>=$A$1,H5<=$A$2),H5,0),IF(AND(I5>=$A$1,I5<=$A$2),I5,0),IF(AND(J5>=$A$1,J5<=$A$2),J5,0),IF(AND(K5>=$A$1,K5<=$A$2),K5,0))=J5,J5<>""),"IQS",IF(AND(MAX(IF(AND(G5>=$A$1,G5<=$A$2),G5,0),IF(AND(H5>=$A$1,H5<=$A$2),H5,0),IF(AND(I5>=$A$1,I5<=$A$2),I5,0),IF(AND(J5>=$A$1,J5<=$A$2),J5,0),IF(AND(K5>=$A$1,K5<=$A$2),K5,0))=K5,K5<>""),"Other","Not Applicable")))))

Answer 2

I think I understand now. The following formula will get you the maximum date in the range G5:K5, subject to the condition that it be between the dates in A1 and A2. It will return "not applicable in the event that none of the dates meet the condition.
=IF(COUNTIFS(G5:K5,">="&$A$1,G5:K5,"<="&$A$2)<5,LARGE(G5:K5,1+COUNTIFS(G5:K5,">"&$A$2)),"not applicable")