Seven letter words change one or two letter to make a new word

papyrus

scrappy

scraper

crapper

scupper

scalper

caliper

calorie

caliber

liberal

friable

library

Braille

radical

clarify

rectify

“Braille” to “radical” changed three letters, no?

B R A I L L E

R A D I C A L

So then the word in play is Braille?

If the rule is to wind back to the last legal word, yes.

barrels