Dozens of bakers cast their nets (9)
I believe the answer is:
thirteens
'dozens of bakers' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both quantities as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'cast their nets' is the wordplay.
'cast' indicates anagramming the letters (letters are dispersed or cast around).
'their'+'nets'='theirnets'
'theirnets' with letters rearranged gives 'THIRTEENS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for thirteens that I've seen is " numbers".)