ntpdate: no server suitable for synchronization found

So your computer's clock is off (maybe it says the year is 1901, or 2038). You need a quick way to set it. So you run:

# ntpdate pool.ntp.org
2 Mar 23:10:23 ntpdate[2927]: no server suitable for synchronization found

Shoot. What now? The cause would seem to be that the timeout is set too low. Quoting from the ntpdate manpage:

The [timeout] value is is rounded to a multiple of 0.2 seconds. The default is 1 second, a value suitable for polling across a LAN.

Bingo! As the Internet is no LAN, timeout is to be expected. The solution: extend the timeout value to, say, four seconds:

# ntpdate -t 4 pool.ntp.org
 2 Mar 23:16:08 ntpdate[7084]: adjust time server 147.231.100.5 offset 
0.236161 sec

Wish all IT-related problems were this simple.