  The Gordian knot of density-functional theories for classical molecular
liquids remains finding an accurate free-energy functional in terms of the
densities of the atomic sites of the molecules. Following Kohn and Sham, we
show how to solve this problem by considering noninteracting molecules in a set
of effective potentials. This shift in perspective leads to an accurate and
computationally tractable description in terms of simple three-dimensional
functions. We also treat both the linear- and saturation- dielectric responses
of polar systems, presenting liquid hydrogen chloride as a case study.
