Crossword Genius

Spooner's only visitor died (4,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gone west

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spooner's only visitor' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'died' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'died' could be 'gone' ('go' can be a synonym of 'die') and 'gone' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'west' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for gone west that I've seen is " lost irrevocably".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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