Thursday, July 7, 2022 Laura Dershewitz, Katherine Baicker
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYYatsEhA_5s0BReXZgqr6R1F_bJaQX4aDdrIeQeNJp0IFujgTkf9ahEVtVwfnfr_aBQ1-6xks96ccKuPB0UlLxBrTINVVpylNEQlHiZ1_Omrt6hr0UPj6n6AWhGMC9B-xerJqNP6Rny74beRm2ZSXiIZ9WpMXHrCBvGarQ_pK9fWFGA6V3wUwfwI/s320/Word%20Hacks.png)
What the Hack? Today's constructors are Laura Dershewitz and her partner in crime Katherine Baicker . This is Laura's first visit to the LAT, and Katherine first appeared here on May 19, 2022 , reviewed by my partner in crime Malodorous Manatee . Laura's and Katherine's theme is all about HACKS . But what exactly is a HACK ? It turns out to be quite a mercurial term with a least a dozen different meanings, many with no apparent connections to the others. Today we tend to associate "hacking" with computers, but the term apparently predates modern computers by many years . In their reveal for the themers our constructors seem to be exploring two usages of the word HACK , separated below by the conjunction AND ... 58A. Tricks to improve productivity, and the tricks used to form the answers to the starred clues?: LIFE HACKS . (my italics ). The first usage , "Tricks to improve