Past simple + time adjuncts

In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 62 in category of PAST is defined as:

a range of time adjuncts with the past simple.

This is quite ambiguous as to what constitutes this in the EGP exactly.  The examples all include a past simple verb and a time word but often with lots of words between, which makes it hard to get through using the iWeb corpus.  The best we can get is:

1 SAID AT THE TIME 11702 (these don’t always appear to be adjuncts)
2 DECIDED IT WAS TIME 10953
3 TOOK ME A WHILE 9249
4 TOOK A LONG TIME 7999

WOKE UP THIS MORNING

PoPville

My husband and I woke up this morning to a yellow paint circle on our front porch.

6 RAN OUT OF TIME 3639
7 THOUGHT IT WAS TIME 3080
8 SPENT SO MUCH TIME 2944
9 KNEW IT WAS TIME 2669
10 SPENT A LONG TIME 2179
11 FELT IT WAS TIME 2051
12 MARKED THE FIRST TIME 1984

FINISHED THE REGULAR SEASON

  The Indianapolis Star

These Central Indiana players finished the regular season with a bang. Here are for the top area performances from Week 9.

14 TOOK ABOUT AN HOUR 1792
15 TOOK A FEW MINUTES 1766
16 SPENT A FEW DAYS 1756
17 SPENT A FEW HOURS 1601
18 CAME AT A TIME 1515
19 WOKE UP ONE MORNING 1474
20 TOOK A FEW DAYS 1457

EXISTED AT THE TIME

   The Guardian

We paid £20,000 for a campervan – and now it’s rusting

You would have to be able to show the problem existed at the time of purchase, which is very difficult to prove retrospectively.

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22 MADE THIS LAST NIGHT 1427
23 SAID EARLIER THIS WEEK 1416
24 SPENT TOO MUCH TIME 1415
25 FIGURED IT WAS TIME 1414
26 TOOK ME SOME TIME 1308
27 TOOK A LITTLE WHILE 1289
28 SAID IT WAS TIME 1284
29 TOOK A FEW YEARS 1136
30 SAID EARLIER THIS MONTH 1123
31 STAYED UP ALL NIGHT 1111
32 THOUGHT AT THE TIME 1108
33 WORKED FOR MANY YEARS 1096
34 SPENT A FEW YEARS 1084
35 CALLED IT A DAY 1041
36 KNEW AT THE TIME 1022

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ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS YEAR

  Daily Mail

The couple announced earlier this year they were expecting a baby together in October.

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38 CAME OUT LAST YEAR 995
39 SAID EARLIER THIS YEAR 988
40 SHOWED UP ON TIME 976
41 TOOK QUITE A WHILE 975
42 WROTE AT THE TIME 975
43 TOOK A LITTLE TIME 961
44 TOOK ABOUT A WEEK 957
45 DIED A FEW YEARS 953
46 PUBLISHED EARLIER THIS YEAR 948
47 TOOK US A WHILE 935
48 PASSED AWAY LAST YEAR 907
49 WOKE UP ONE DAY 902
50 SPENT LOTS OF TIME 893
51 WORKED FOR A WHILE 872
52 TOOK A FEW WEEKS 837
53 WORKED FOR SEVERAL YEARS 832
54 LEARNED A LONG TIME 821
55 SPENT A FEW MINUTES 817
56 TOOK ABOUT A YEAR 817
57 ARRIVED JUST IN TIME 798
58 DIED THE NEXT DAY 796
59 TOOK A FEW MONTHS 792
60 ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS MONTH 778
61 FELT AT THE TIME 758
62 TOLD THE E-COMMERCE TIMES 750
63 SPENT THE WHOLE DAY 728
64 ARRIVED THE NEXT DAY 727
65 TOLD THE IRISH TIMES 714
66 TOOK OVER A YEAR 712
67 TOOK ABOUT 10 MINUTES 704
68 WAITED A LONG TIME 698
69 TOOK ME A YEAR 692
70 LAUNCHED EARLIER THIS YEAR 691
71 SAID THE OTHER DAY 690
72 TOOK ABOUT 20 MINUTES 688
73 TOOK ABOUT A MONTH 683
74 SPENT AS MUCH TIME 682
75 WENT BACK IN TIME 680
76 FELL ON HARD TIMES 677
77 SPENT A LITTLE TIME 663
78 MADE THESE LAST NIGHT 659
79 SPENT THE LAST YEAR 659
80 TOOK A FEW HOURS 640
81 TOOK OVER AN HOUR 640
82 TOOK ABOUT 15 MINUTES 637
83 TOOK PLACE LAST WEEK 634
84 TOLD THE FINANCIAL TIMES 633 (just name of journal)
85 LIVED AT THE TIME 632
86 DIED A FEW DAYS 630
87 TOOK ABOUT 30 MINUTES 628
88 SPENT ABOUT AN HOUR 615
89 STARTED A FEW YEARS 615
90 TOOK ME AN HOUR 612
91 SPENT A FEW WEEKS 611
92 TOLD THE SUNDAY TIMES 606
93 ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS WEEK 604
94 SPENT THE ENTIRE DAY 603
95 WORKED FOR TWO YEARS 595

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UPDATED OVER A WEEK

*there are no news reports with this cluster.  It seems to be an automated blog post expression.

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LASTED A LONG TIME

  The Hindu

This reporting assignment lasted a long time.

 *possibly not an adjunct…

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98 HIT THE BIG TIME 576
99 LEARNED OVER THE YEARS 576
100 LIVED FOR MANY YEARS 561

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B1 vocabulary:

announced, existed, lasted, published, regular, season, updated

_vvd * _md _nnt

1 MARKED THE FIRST TIME 1984
2 MADE THIS LAST NIGHT 1427
3 CAME OUT LAST YEAR 995
4 PASSED AWAY LAST YEAR 907
5 DIED THE NEXT DAY 796
6 ARRIVED THE NEXT DAY 727
7 SPENT THE LAST YEAR 659
8 MADE THESE LAST NIGHT 659

TOOK PLACE LAST WEEK

  Rangefinder Online

The second annual Wetzlar Camera Auctions (WCA) took place last week, offering up 254 historical cameras for sale, most of them Leicas.

10 CAME OUT LAST WEEK 528
11 RETURNED THE NEXT DAY 509
12 HAPPENED THE LAST TIME 472
13 PASSED AWAY LAST WEEK 469
14 TOLD ME LAST WEEK 448
15 SPENT THE LAST WEEK 447
16 MISSED THE FIRST TIME 426
17 SAID THE LAST TIME 411
18 SPENT THE NEXT YEAR 392
19 CAME THE NEXT DAY 386
20 AWOKE THE NEXT MORNING 384
21 SPENT THE NEXT HOUR 382
22 WORKED THE FIRST TIME 376
23 TOOK PLACE LAST YEAR 344
24 TOOK PLACE LAST NIGHT 303
25 HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME 289
26 MADE HEADLINES LAST YEAR 276
27 SAID THAT LAST YEAR 276
28 SAID THE FIRST TIME 275
29 LEFT OFF LAST SEASON 264
30 MADE IT LAST NIGHT 253
31 TALKED ABOUT LAST WEEK 253
32 CAME OUT LAST MONTH 247
33 TOOK PLACE LAST MONTH 247
34 WENT OUT LAST NIGHT 247
35 PLEADED GUILTY LAST YEAR 239
36 SAID . LAST YEAR 232
37 TOLD ME LAST YEAR 222
38 LEFT OFF LAST YEAR 220
39 WOKE THE NEXT MORNING 218
40 CAME THE FIRST TIME 217
41 TOOK PLACE LAST WEEKEND 215
42 TRIED IT LAST NIGHT 215
43 TOLD ME LAST NIGHT 214
44 TRIED THIS LAST NIGHT 214
45 FELT THE FIRST TIME 213
46 PASSED AWAY LAST NIGHT 211
47 PLEADED GUILTY LAST MONTH 206
48 SPENT THE LAST YEARS 202
49 FOUND OUT LAST WEEK 194
50 MADE A LAST MINUTE 190
51 BOUGHT IT LAST YEAR 185
52 SPENT THE NEXT DAY 180
53 FAILED THE FIRST TIME 178
54 SAT OUT LAST SEASON 177
55 WROTE ABOUT LAST WEEK 176
56 TOLD REPORTERS LAST WEEK 174