My family are apparently arranging a tea party for my significant birthday in March, and it seems that your crossword setter Tramp has got wind of this. This is shown by a clue in the puzzle on 14 February: “Guessing John finally is 80: posh spread?” As for the solution, I’m hypothesising that Tramp is not only an excellent setter, but has great powers of clairvoyance too!
John Gooder
Bishop Burton, East Yorkshire
Re your report (Primary-age child constipation rates up 60% in England, 18 February), perhaps you could direct readers to the Royal Navy surgeon captain Thomas Latimer Cleave, known as “the bran man” for his emphasis on roughage in our diet in the 1940s.
Roy Wilson
Harrow, London
When my very talkative son was at nursery school, his long-suffering teacher wrote in her report (Letters, 19 February) that he “is aware of the rules of the nursery and can usually be persuaded through rational discussion to abide by them”. I can still picture the weary sigh with which that must have been written.
Elli Woollard
London
When my son was four years old, his teacher complained that “all he wants to do is play”. I was delighted!
Marilyn Rowley
Manchester
After I had earned a reputation for being leftwing, my leaving report said “I hope I am dead before he’s prime minister”. I don’t know whether the writer of this was dead before his son, a Conservative MP, crossed the floor to Labour.
Robert Dimmick
Reading, Berkshire
