boiling points, breaking points, clutches, conjunctures, crises, crossroads, crunches, crunch times, Dunkirks, exigencies, extremities, flash points, heads, junctures, tinderboxes, zero hours

contingencies, possibilitiesclimaxes, turning pointshappenings, landmarks, milestonesconditions, passes, situations, straitsdeadlocks, impasses, stalematescorners, fixes, holes, hot waters, jams, last ditches, pinches, predicaments, scrapes, spotseleventh hours, last minutes

moments of truth, points of no return