There are companies whose entire product is an excel password breaker. Yes, companieS. So you can get your password back for a fee. Their methods are usually guaranteed. So for $29 or whatever the going rate is, you can buy a solution.
When I close to thinking I might not have a choice, I checked out a few of these companies. It seems they all deal with Excel c/w Windows. I couldn't find one that would deal with Mac. There was one company who looked like they could do if you submitted the file on-line.
That's when the Tacit-Russian-Mob-heebie-jeebies set in and I thought: "Maybe I'll just keep trying."
ryck