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The spell arcane lock can be cast on "a closed door, window, gate, chest, or other entryway." What are limits of this entryway? That is, must this entryway have a flap, lid, or other type of barrier in order for the spell to function?

And if the entryway can be open such as an archway, what constitutes an entryway? Does it have to have a certain amount of sides? Or could it be simply the gap between two poles?

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The entryway must be closed, it cannot be open. The adjective "closed" in the description refers to the entire collection of things, "a closed door, a closed window, a closed gate" etc.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I would be inclined to agree with you and accept this as answer. However, the word "other" in front of entryway is the problem. Other - used to refer to a person or thing that is different or distinct from one already mentioned or known about. We don't know in how many other ways they are different. \$\endgroup\$
    – chewpoclypse
    Commented May 23, 2016 at 17:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ @chewbapoclypse Except that it's the only way to make the spell make sense and be immediately useful without extensive thought about how it can “lock” an open entryway. (Besides, normally a spell will say how it does something unusual like that.) Given two grammatical readings, one that makes a lot of sense and another that makes much less sense, there's no need to prove that the less-sensical one isn't how to read it. \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented May 23, 2016 at 18:12
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    \$\begingroup\$ @chewbapoclypse I don't understand your comment. All this answer is saying, and I'm repeating, is that the only reading that doesn't make the spell incomplete and unusable is “a closed [door, window, gate, chest, or other entryway]”, as opposed to the incomplete and confusion-laden “a closed [door, window, gate, chest], or other entryway” or even “a [closed door], window, gate, chest, or other entryway.” \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented May 23, 2016 at 20:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ I read the phrase "other entryway" as meaning things like trapdoors, hatches, gratings, and so on. \$\endgroup\$
    – Greenstone Walker
    Commented May 23, 2016 at 22:32
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    \$\begingroup\$ @chewbapoclypse "why would you lock a trapdoor?" - what exactly do you think trapdoors are for? \$\endgroup\$
    – Miniman
    Commented May 24, 2016 at 23:06

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