Crossword Genius

The sadness when response is totally lacking (2,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

no joy

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

'the sadness when response is totally' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'lacking' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'lacking' could be 'no' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'no' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'joy' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for no joy that I've seen before include "lack of success" , "Unsuccessful (colloq.)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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