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Cocktal currently taken by graduate and learner in confines of school (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

snowball

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'confines of school' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'cocktal currently taken by graduate and learner' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'currently' could be 'now' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'now' is found in the answer.
'graduate' could be 'ba' (someone with a Bachelor of Arts degree) and 'ba' is located in the answer.
'learner' could be 'l' (as in a learner driver with L-plates on their car) and 'l' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for snowball that I've seen before include "Drink of advocaat and lemonade" , "Icy projectile" , "kind of bush with white flowers" , "Cold missile - advocaat and lemonade cocktail" , "Increase rapidly in size - advocaat and lemonade" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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