Crossword Genius

Literary failure almost leads to row becoming worse (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

naughtier

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

'worse' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'literary failure almost leads to row' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'failure' could be 'naught' (naught is a kind of failure) and 'naught' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'becoming' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for naughtier that I've seen before include "Worse" , "more unruly" , "More mischievous" , "Less well behaved" , "More badly behaved" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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