Conspirators - about 50 snooker players (8)
I believe the answer is:
plotters
'conspirators' is the definition.
('plotter' can be a synonym of 'conspirator')
'50 snooker players' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'50' could be 'l' (Roman numeral) and 'l' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'potters' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'about' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for plotters that I've seen before include "People planning" , "eg, Guy Fawkes and co" .)