Not sure this works, but what seems to be getting said by Tolkien in that "cheating" quote is that
eucatastrophe = cheating; which means that it's not really cheating. Do Muslims think that Gabriel coming to Muhammad was "cheating"? Do Christians think that Jesus rising from the grave was "cheating"? Do Jews think that Yahweh providing the ram at the last moment when Abraham was about to kill Isaac, was "cheating"? If so, then myth and real life is full of divine "cheating".
