At first glance, the clues look like a set of printer’s devilry crossword clues. We can attempt to piece together a few clues, and realize that instead of a string getting removed, it is actually inserted into an otherwise normal clue. By using the “chain attack” and “you will ... know their names” in the flavor text or by looking at the removed strings, we notice that this puzzle is actually a reference to Xenoblade Chronicles. In particular, all of the crossword clues contain two parts of a Unique Monster’s name.

Unique Monster names typically follow the pattern [Adjective] [Name]. The cleaned crossword clue, once the Name is removed, solves to an Adjective of a different unique monster. Crossword answers are listed alphabetically which can help disambiguate between multiple possible answers.

We then form a cycle linking the Adjective-Names of unique monsters. The start and ends of the chains uses only one part of the Monster’s name (Adjective or Name). The starting letters of the clues read MAP LOCATIONS OF UNIQUE MONSTERS.

Unique Monsters all spawn at specific points, which can be found at this link. In the cycle, neighboring monsters spawn in the same areas, which suggests that we are tracing out lines on the maps. The parentheses denote monsters who are only clued with half of their name.

By treating each map as a distinct letter, we spell out the answer IN FOCUS.

Author's Notes