Missed the bag check cutoff, gate checked my suitcase for free

Arrived to the airport late due to a series of mishap events and I missed the airline’s checked baggage cutoff (usually 1 hour before takeoff) and thought I was going to have to either rebook. Instead, I decided to role my dice with an insane plan that eventually worked!
I took my suitcase through TSA. TSA let me through after I tossed out a few toiletries that exceeded the liquid limits. Once I got to the gate, I explained the situation to the gate agent, and they gate checked my bag for free.

A few caveats: My suitcase was small enough (medium size) to fit through the TSA screening machine.

It worked for me and saved my trip, so I figured I’d share in case someone else finds themselves in the same situation, since this subreddit helped a lot in the past!