How Many Prayers?

How often, according to quran, is one to pray? Quranists will argue for three times that one is to pray. Here are the verses cited for three and some comments.

Chronological order:

S 20:130 So be patient regarding what they say and praise with the praise of your lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting and from the hours of the night. So praise and the ends of the day; perhaps you will be pleased.

This is evidently addressed to the author. There is nothing explicitly said about salat but this is understood. It might be argued that this is only for the author. 'Ends' is in the Arabic plural, so three or more. How many 'ends' does the day have? Perhaps the author will be pleased?

S 11:114 And perform salat the two ends of the day and commencements of the night. Good deeds remove evil ones. That is a remembrance for those who remember.

Again, this is evidently addressed to the author. What salat is to be performed? In this verse there are two ends of the day. How many 'commencements' (plural) of the night are there? Is salat a good deed that will remove an evil one? Does 'That' refer to salat?

Something that we might also consider: Although there are supposed to be three 'prayers' in quran, S 2:238 says: "Guard the prayers and the middle prayer and stand up for Lah obedient." '[P]rayers' is in the Arabic plural, so three or more, but the author then speaks of a middle 'prayer'. Going by this verse, there should be at least four 'prayers'. Unless the author blundered. "Guard the prayers AND the middle prayer"?

Chronological Order of the Qur'an - WikiIslam