I'm having some trouble remembering which direction the drops go in the "ice" and "shape" primitives - 寒、尽、顔、形、etc. It doesn't help that ミ tilts the opposite way from 形 either!

Does anyone have a good device for remembering which tilts to the right and which to the left?

Ice is related to water and their primitives look almost the same except that water has an extra drop. In the center, ice tends to follow the shape of that top drop for both of them. 冬 is a good kanji to consult.

If you keep writing out the Kanji involving "shape" you'll get that one too. Watching the SOD might help too.

And the taskmaster helps you to shape up... and so the direction of shape follows the first stroke of the taskmaster.