I've been adding the majority of malt extract during last 10 minutes of the boil. Since doing this, I've noticed less caramelization which keeps the wort lighter color. I've also noticed better hop utilization, which is very important to me because I'm also doing partial boils (4-4.5 gal) and topping-off, and that already affects hop utilization.
I just tried adding simple sugar (dextrose in my case) — only 5% of the fermentables, and added it during the last 5 minutes. I've read that it help dry it out, and lo and behold — it dropped my FG down a point as per the target. It was a west-coast style IPA, but it's still in the carboy, and the sample I took for a reading did taste somewhat drier than I had expected.