After school meal, Ritz crackers becoming mushier (11)

I believe the answer is:

schmaltzier

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'mushier' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'after school meal ritz crackers' is the wordplay.
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'school' becomes 'sch' (common abbreviation).
'crackers' indicates an anagram (informal term for mad).
'meal'+'ritz'='mealritz'
'mealritz' with letters rearranged gives 'maltzier'.
'sch' next to 'maltzier' is 'SCHMALTZIER'.

'becoming' acts as a link.

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I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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