The Arena

 

 

Each clue leads to an answer with the same number of letters as the clue itself. In order:

XYLOPHONIST	JIMSONWEED
SWIZZLE STICK	PRIZEFIGHTER
CONQUISTADOR	JUVENILE DELINQUENT
KNUCKLE JOINT	THREE DIMENSIONAL
MAURICE CHEVALIER	VENTRILOQUIZING
ZWIEBACK	PHLEGMATIC
QUINQUENNIAL	BOOKKEEPER
CABALLERO	SWORD OF DAMOCLES
ROUND TABLE	CAVALIER

The "three dimensional" reference to the clue "like these squares" suggests that the grids represent a 6x6x6 cube of letters. The flavor text suggests a Knight's Tour, one that can be traced (in a closed loop in three dimensions) to spell the above answers. Note that the first two letters, X and Y, appear only once in the grid as a starting point, and that the top and bottom layers are indicated with TIPTOP and BOTTOM in their respective grids.

Coloring the letters/cells to correspond with the colors of their clues results in the figure below:

The three-dimensional form that results represents a red solid, a yellow solid, and a blue solid occupying the same space. Considered separately, the front, side, and top views of each of these solids depict letter forms: H-U-n, d-r-e, d-T-H, spelling the answer HUNDREDTH.