Alan — thanks for the fast response. If I had a clue how to work in XML, I would have started there. :-)

Re formatting, InDesign style sheets will auto-apply to any text revision I make in the originally-linked Excel cell, so I'm not so concerned about formatting/reformatting. The issue is what happens when the cell location itself changes in the spreadsheet and the link is lost.

A Vark responder suggested I create a name for the range for the cell or range of cells. Seemed logical, but doesn't work; although InDesign offers the option to indicate Cell Range in the import dialog box — it won't a accept a name range. AAAAarrrgh!

Any ideas, or fast-path to XML?