The Times Sir: The year in letters

From running commentary on growing cress in lunar soil, to fond collective memories about your mother’s ancient Hoover, letter writers to The Times leave no stone unturned. This is a roundup of the wittiest letters printed on the letters page in 2023: pithy, funny and sometimes startling observations about the world in which we live.

This collection invites you into the decidedly absurd, and always entertaining world of one of Britain’s longest-running correspondences. Whether you’re a loyal patron of letters, or haven’t the slightest idea as to what’s so special about the bottom-right corner, The Times Letters to the Editor 2023 welcomes you to the party and lets you in on more than a few inside jokes. In a news cycle where it feels downright bleaker than ever, you’ll find you are not alone in your musings on the ideal full-cooked breakfast or what the word ‘splooting’ actually means.

The cream of this year’s letters crop is curated by The Times letters editor Andrew Riley, with original cartoons by Royston Robertson. And, who knows, the elusive Editor may even take this opportunity to reply all.