Ian,
There are so many factors affecting drying times that less than an hour is easily possible if everything is in your favour.
10 hours is also possible if factors are against.
I still prefer the logical approach of the less water you leave in a carpet , the quicker it will dry given all other factors equal.
I know it is not completely straighforward and where the water is in the carpet will affect its drying,i.e if most of the residual water is on or near the surface of the carpet , then it will dry quicker , than if a lot of residual water is at the base due to the greater airflow.
When appying several coats of sealant /polish to a dance floor last week, it was evident that areas quite close to each other dried at very different rates, much more so that I would have expected.This is obviously down to airflow as the temperature would have been almost constant.
Cheers,
Doug