Damn! I think many people are confused on how you're suppossed to play the game. Normally, you don't really need to fill the whole book (that's extremely statistically unlikely without the hints), you just need to gain enough information to pass the final test. The hag also tries to help you, so if you've only discovered a few properties, she'll give you a one-ingredient ritual. If you've discovered more, she'll give you a two-ingredient ritual, and only if you've found most of the properties she will give you a three-ingredient ritual. In fact, you could still resurrect the cat even if you used only random ingredients.
If the goal is to maximize points/full entries the game becomes more about figuring out the best way to use its mechanics. You can learn indirectly the proprieties if you do the right guesses (there are only two instances of each propriety for each "level": primary, secondary, tertiary), also all the spells the clients ask need more ingredients near the end of the month, and the book contains all the spells that they could ask so you might use this information to fill out a specific propriety or "level" because you might not be able to do it afterward (making even the first spells not just random ingredients).
Of course, I completely understand why some people might find this overwhelming or tedious. It's a puzzle game, and this kind of gameplay isn't for everyone.