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Noob here: could this issue have been worked around if you had a personal list of the IP addresses that the domain resolved to?

Most DNS issues can, yes. Your hosts file is going to be thick though, and a pain to keep up to date ;P

> Your hosts file is going to be thick though, and a pain to keep up to date

I'm guessing you already know, but for the others: This is precisely what the DNS protocol was created for.