Thanks isaac_clarke22 and Maus0728 for replying. I did try the google search option - site:bitcointalk.org <keyword search> - but although it does search and I can do searching far quicker, it's older data - not from today for example. I tried a couple of searches of posts from today to test and they are not yet showing up as results on Google, so there must be a delay.

And I get that there are limits for newbies - and from what I've read the limit was imposed due to naughty people - but it makes it hard to interact and engage (and rank up) when my ability to search for interesting topics and threads is hampered by time limits so strict. I did find a post saying there used to be a 6 minute limit - like WOW, how was the board ever usable back then.

Anyway, thanks for replying. I'll try to bite my lip and ride it out.