Place vessels around large plot (3,5)

I believe the answer is:

lay plans

'plot' is the definition.

'place vessels around large' is the wordplay.
'place' becomes 'lay' (laying is a kind of placing).
'vessels' becomes 'pans' (I've seen this in other clues).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'large' becomes 'l'.
'pans' placed around 'l' is 'plans'.
'lay'+'plans'='LAY PLANS'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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