haimgalata/the-categories-game ? reverse-engineered prompt

Build me a Telegram group game bot for a fast paced categories style game. I want people to add it to a group, open a simple menu, choose how many players and how long each round lasts, then start with a short countdown. Each round should post a random letter and category, pin that prompt in the chat, collect answers from everyone, and score people based on who answered correctly first. It should show a live leaderboard after every round, stop early if everyone answered, and after every 5 rounds let the group vote to continue or finish.

Please make answer checking feel smart and forgiving. It should catch duplicates so only one person can score with the same answer, accept small spelling mistakes when the answer is obviously right, and use AI only when needed for tricky cases. I also want scores, games, rounds, and player stats saved so leaderboards persist over time. Make it work for bigger group chats too, up to about 50 players, and include clear setup with environment variables for the bot token, database, and AI key. Look up current docs online if you need to.