how can I convert a Word document consisting mostly of tables into an Excel
format?
You can select an entire Word table (click in the table, then Table > Select >
Table, or click the little square with four arrowheads that appears at the top
left corner), copy it to the clipboard, and paste it into Excel. It will
automatically be separated into cells.
Non-table material doesn't behave so nicely -- it just drops into a single cell.