Dying of thirst. Please water them. Evenly moist soil is the goal.

No, that's not due to lack of water. I water them plenty, and Sunchokes don't need much, they are adapted to dry climates.
A guy on another board said that's pretty common if they aren't in really good soil, which these aren't. He said they should produce a decent crop anyway.

they look sunburnt and underwatered to me too ...

there is a big difference what an ESTABLISHED plant can do.. and what a recent transplant can cope with.. this is old damage.. so its hard to tell.. now.. when the insult to the leaf tissue occurred ..

the soil in the pic looks recently turned.. as compared to that further behind ... if so.. it just couldnt cope.. as your other dude suggested ..

regardless.. it lives..

mulch will help reduces swings in soil moisture ...

ken

It's true they don;t needmuch water, but they do need enough.

The browning is classic for water shortage. May even have been the after-effects of one very hot day when the roots couldn't keep up with the top's requirements. The area to brown & die 1st t=is the tissue between the veins. Those cell are at the end of the water supply line.

This doc explains water shortage in many kinds of plants
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/Garden/drought6.htm

Scroll down to "symptoms in leaves" then look at the middle picture in the 1st row. Same as your sunchokes.

Here is a link that might be useful: symptoms of water shortage