This line is from The last ship movie where the president of the United States of America issues a video message to the remaining population, trying to put an end to the rumors that have spread out against the cure:
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I wonder if he could have said instead:
Nothing could be far and away from the truth.
Grammar Girl says:
The quick and dirty tip is to use “farther” for physical distance and “further” for metaphorical, or figurative, distance. It's easy to remember because “farther” has the word “far” in it, and“far” obviously relates to physical distance.
Now that my proposition contains the word far would seem that the replacement is wrong as it's not about a physical distance but Merriam Webster gives the following example:
that Mexican restaurant is far and away the best in the area
where the word far is contained although it's not about a physical distance.
So, my question is: are further and far and away synonymous and if so are they always interchangeable?