List range is the dimension of the table/range that you want to filter,
criteria range is a the criteria can be anything for 2 cells to quite a few
so your assumption is correct.

If you use unique records it will apply a secondary filter if there is a
criteria or a primary
if there is no criteria. So if you filter A1:A5 using the criteria greater
than 5 and all the entries
are either 5 or 6  you would get a list with all 6, if you also apply unique
records you will only get
6 once.

5
6
5
6
5

filtered

6
6

with unique records applied

6