TACH is often the answer to the crossword clue
[Dash gauge, for short] or [Dash part]
Short for “tachometer,” a TACH is the [Dash device] that’s an [RPM indicator]. The answer also flies as [Cockpit dial], and it might leave one’s brain going in circles as a [Dash part].
But that’s nothing to how thrown for a loop some solvers must have been by this clue:
[Needle holder]
Jill Denny and Jeff Chen, The New York Times – Dec. 6, 2012
Certainly, most solvers would have pinned their hopes for that four-letter answer on ETUI.
A tachometer is also known as a “rev counter.” REV here of course meaning to [Give gas to] or [Gun]; a tach wouldn’t be much help counting the number of people with a [Pastor’s nickname].
Others call the device an [RPM gauge], so that RPM often appears as [Tach reading]. These [Dash letters] involve a different needle when they’re the [Turntable meas.] seen following [45 ___].
The first syllable of “tachometer” comes from the Ancient Greek takhús, meaning “swift.” The same root is found in “tacheometer,” the device used to find a “quick measure” in surveying.
That’s just a hair away tick away “tachymeter,” an inscribed scale found on some analog watches.
