I would like to know if there is a way to compare multiple cells containing dates to a single cell containing a date individually. I know how to do it in a very inelegant way using conditional formatting where I create a rule for each cell compared to the one cell, but there are hundreds of cells and it will take forever.

I have attached an image with a portion of what I am doing. So, to repeat, is there a way that I can compare N3:Q13 to R2 one at a time with a single formula or just a few formulas? I want a cell to turn color if it is before the date in R2.

I am using Excel 2010 and am open to formulas or conditional formatting. I don't think I can do VBA though.

Thank you in advance.