Does Hex / Hexblade's curse end the spell Time Stop?

Question

Time stop states:

This spell ends if one of the actions you use during this period, or any effects that you create during this period, affects a creature other than you or an object being worn or carried by someone other than you.

Hex states:

You place a curse on a creature that you can see within range. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the target whenever you hit it with an attack. Also, choose one ability when you cast the spell. The target has disadvantage on ability checks made with the chosen ability.

Hexblade's Curse states:

... The target is cursed for 1 minute. The curse ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. Until the curse ends, you gain the following benefits: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target. The bonus equals your proficiency bonus. Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20. If the cursed target dies, you regain hit points equal to your warlock level + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1 hit point). You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

My confusion is on what "affects a creature" means here. My best guess would be that Hex would end time stop, since it causes a mechanical effect on the target creature (see bolded). However, Hexblade's Curse would not end time stop, since all the mechanics just affect the caster. I'm curious if there is a more concrete idea of what "affects a creature" actually means.

Answer 1

You cursed the target, so you affected them.

This seems pretty straightforward to me. “Affect” has no special meaning in the rules, so I consulted an English dictionary (Cambridge):

affect: to have an influence on someone or something¹

If you curse the target, you have affected them, and time stop ends.

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^{1 It doesn’t really matter what dictionary you consult, every definition of “affect” will make it clear that placing a curse on the target that makes them weaker counts as “affecting” the target.}

Answer 2

Your interpretation is correct

Hex affects the target. Hexblade’s Curse affects you (with respect to the target).