WP minimal loop with pagination - yuck

gistfile1.phtml

<?php 
$paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) : 1;

$the_query = new WP_Query( 
    array(
    'posts_per_page' => '5',
    'paged' => $paged
    )
    
);
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) :

while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post();
    echo '<h3>';
    the_title('<a href="' . get_the_excerpt() . '" target="_blank">', '</a>');
    echo '</h3>';

    foreach((get_the_category()) as $category) { 
        echo $category->cat_name . ' '; 
    } 

endwhile;

echo '<hr>';
next_posts_link( '< older ', $the_query->max_num_pages );
previous_posts_link( ' newer > ' );

wp_reset_postdata();

else:
   _e( 'Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.' );
endif;
?>