A Hydra has no brain, no circulatory or respiratory system, nor even any musculature, yet it poses a real danger to small freshwater aquarium fish.
–The Spruce Pets

Also:
AARGH! Like, really? That spelling?

Yeah, we’re already going with yesterday’s misses.

ALAGAL: I got ALGA but not ALGAL. That one’s on me.
DRAY: That cart the Budweiser Clydesdales pull.
DRYAD: Well, I just learned that this is a tree nymph from Greek Mythology.
DYAD: A thing composed of two parts. Got it.
HALAL: I won’t miss this one again, I think.
HALYARD: You don’t have to be a seaman to know what this thing is, but it probably helps.
HYDRA: More Greek mythology, but I’d heard of this one. What I didn’t know earlier was that it’s also the name of some freshwater polyps. That’s what that opening quote is about.
LALLYGAG: I’ve certainly missed this one before.
YARD: No excuse.

Today’s puzzle was incredibly long. I was at 190 points when I took a walk to mail my ballot. When I got back, I found a second pangram immediately and then got to genius and kept going. If I hadn’t, I would have missed TORAH. That would have been crazy embarrassing.

Final score: 56 words for 255 points.
First word: Couch