[CharlesW]

> You cannot scope a search to a subset of the collection.

Since you're back to Notes, you might be interested to know that you can now scope searches in a bunch ways — folders, Smart Folder, tags, kind (i.e. limit to notes with checklists), date range, etc. You can even search "notes created last year" to see all of your notes created last year, etc. https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/notes/not18ab658ed/mac