> without zsh globs I have to remember find syntax
My "solution" to this is using https://github.com/sharkdp/fd (even when in zsh and having glob support). I'm not sure if using a tool that's not present by default would be suitable for your use cases, but if you're considering alternate shells, I suspect you might be
I do use `fd` in simple cases as it is sooooo fast, but it has quite limited functionality compared to zsh's extended glob syntax¹. I must add that `fd` is one-billion times more readable when you're flipping back through your history or extracting a short script with `fc`.
My "solution" to this is using https://github.com/sharkdp/fd (even when in zsh and having glob support). I'm not sure if using a tool that's not present by default would be suitable for your use cases, but if you're considering alternate shells, I suspect you might be