“Early retirement in England increasingly preserve of wealthy, report shows” (1 November). Well who’d have thought it? Maybe some studies can be commissioned to ascertain the toilet habits of bears and the religion of the pontiff. No doubt the substantial fees involved would allow others to take early retirement as well.
Ian A Anderson
Cambridge
Further to Barry Enderwick’s wide-ranging survey of delicious and not so delicious sandwiches (From compressed yeast to cream cheese and cornflakes: one man’s search for the world’s greatest sandwich, 1 November), a friend’s all-time favourite is leftover shepherd’s pie and chopped Brussels sprouts (both cold) with mayonnaise on white bread. I’m not in a position to rate the result gastronomically, as I’ve never summoned up the courage to try it.
Nicholas Organ
West Norwood, London
You report that the pandemic caused sustained harm to cognitive function and working memory in older adults (Report, 1 November). That’s not the way I remember it.
Pete Bibby (aged 72)
Sheffield
I haven’t noticed any difference in cognitive function, but discussions with friends suggested I was not the only one to find that so many days banged up at home produced a reversion to toddler levels of bladder control: “Proceed straight to bathroom, do not detour…”
Rita Gallard
Norwich
In your Wordsearch about university (31 October), the words “book” and “library” were missing. Is this evidence of Tory cuts?
Lawrence Suss
Brighton