Now that the supreme court has ruled in favour of the third runway at Heathrow (Report, 16 December), could it please also compel Boris Johnson to honour the promise he made to lie down in front of the bulldozers? I am sure there would be no shortage of volunteer drivers.
Denis O’Connor
Otley, West Yorkshire
• I was a little disappointed by Puck’s rather coy answers to 20 across, “musty” and 20 down, “muck up” (Cryptic crossword 28,318, 16 December). I had come up for with “fusty” for the former, which made my down answer rather more adventurous.
Alan Killick
Gedling, Nottinghamshire
• Robert Veale need not worry about getting Seville oranges for marmalade-making (Letters, 15 December). You can make marmalade with sweet oranges just as well. In fact I prefer them (fewer pips). I just made marmalade with two blood oranges which I’d overlooked in the freezer – where they kept perfectly well. Combined with two quinces and three home-grown lemons, they made a gorgeous subtle-flavoured marmalade.
Jill Bennett
St Albans, Hertfordshire
• Why not buy a tin of prepared fruit instead? Making marmalade this way takes only about 20 minutes and avoids sticky fingers – and if you replace some of the white sugar with dark brown and add a spoonful of whisky to each jar at the end, you could not buy better!
Helen Keating
Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway
• The birthdays column on 17 December included “Pope Francis, pontiff, 84”. Thanks for confirming what the pope’s job is.
Michael Cunningham
Wolverhampton
