Crossword Genius

Prominent performer owned vessel touring East (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

headliner

'prominent performer' is the definition.
(headline act)

'owned vessel touring east' is the wordplay.
'owned' becomes 'had' ('have' can be a synonym of 'own').
'vessel' becomes 'liner' (liner is a kind of vessel).
'touring' means one lot of letters goes inside another (tour can mean to go around).
'east' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'had'+'liner'='hadliner'
'hadliner' enclosing 'e' is 'HEADLINER'.

(Other definitions for headliner that I've seen before include "Star performer" , "star attraction" , "What's a star" , "American celebrity" , "top of twenty four [BILL]" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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