What does the 'new' keyword do?

Question presented to candidate: "If a constructor function explicitly does return { y: 2 } at the end, what does new SomeConstructor() actually give you back — the newly created instance, or that returned object?"

What a strong answer should cover:

• 📌 Interview term: what new actually does, step by step — creates a brand-new, empty object; links that object's prototype to the constructor function's own .prototype; calls the constructor function with this bound to that new object; and, by default, returns that object — verified directly, each step confirmed with a real constructor and prototype method.
• 📌 Interview term: the real, direct answer to the prompt — verified directly: if the constructor explicitly returns an OBJECT, new genuinely returns THAT object instead of the newly-created this — the real object literal { y: 2 } genuinely wins, and the properties set on this (like x) are genuinely discarded/inaccessible from the result.
• 📌 Interview term: an explicit PRIMITIVE return is ignored — verified directly, in real, sharp contrast: if the constructor instead returns a primitive (a number, string, boolean), new genuinely ignores it entirely, still returning the real this object as normal.
• 📌 Interview term: new.target — verified directly: a function can detect whether it was genuinely invoked with new at all via new.target, which is genuinely undefined for a plain call and genuinely set for a new call.
• A precise answer names that calling a regular function WITHOUT new genuinely does not create any instance at all (this follows the normal call-site rules covered in this bank's own call/apply/bind questions), and that calling an ARROW function WITH new genuinely throws a real TypeError, since arrow functions are deliberately non-constructible.

Clarifying questions expected:

• None — this is a definitional/technical question; directly answering the prompt's own explicit-object-return scenario is the strong signal, since it is the single most commonly-missed new detail.

Code / implementation expected: Yes — the direct object-return-vs-primitive-return contrast is the clearest, most convincing demonstration of new's real, precise behavior.