Can you use HLOOKUP inside VLOOKUP to tell it what column 2 return

[Otter]

I need to find a value based on a lookup across the top of my spreadsheet and
then a value down the side and where the row and column intersect is the
value I want.

 

[Max]

I need to find a value based on a lookup across the top of my spreadsheet and
then a value down the side and where the row and column intersect is the
value I want.

One simple way - use index/match

Assume source table below is in A1:C4

January February
Hair 45 84
Beans 42 61
Prod3 72 29
(month col headers are text)

Assume you have the inputs in E2:F2 down
Beans January
Prod3 February

You could put in G2:
=INDEX($B$2:$C$4,MATCH(E2,$A$2:$A$4,0),MATCH(F2,$B$1:$C$1,0))
and copy down to return the cross-hair/intersection results.