Crossword Genius

American in historic city close to Dortmund wandered aimlessly (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

roamed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'wandered aimlessly' is the definition.
'roamed' can be an answer for 'wandered' ('roam' can be a synonym of 'wander'). I am unsure of the 'aimlessly' bit.

'american in historic city close to dortmund' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'historic city' becomes 'rome' (Rome is an example. I am not sure about the 'historic' bit.).
'close to' suggests the final letters (the 'close' to the word).
The last letter of 'dortmund' is 'd'.
'a' inserted inside 'rome' is 'roame'.
'roame'+'d'='ROAMED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for roamed that I've seen before include "Moved about aimlessly" , "Travelled aimlessly" , "Wandered about aimlessly" , "Walked aimlessly" , "Meandered" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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