In calculating the mean of 8 numbers, a boy mistakenly used 17 instead of 25 as one of the numbers. If he obtained 20 as the mean, find the correct mean.

Let's call the sum of the 8 numbers as S. Then, the boy's calculation of the mean is: $$ \text{Mean} = \frac{S+17}{8} $$ However, the correct calculation of the mean should be: $$ \text{Correct Mean} = \frac{S+25}{8} $$ We know that the boy obtained 20 as the mean, so we can set the two expressions equal to each other and solve for S: $$ \frac{S+17}{8} = 20 \implies S+17 = 160 \implies S = 143 $$ Therefore, the correct mean is: $$ \text{Correct Mean} = \frac{S+25}{8} = \frac{143+25}{8} = \frac{168}{8} = 21 $$ So the correct mean is 21. Therefore, the answer is (3) 21.