  We apply the ${\tt weirddetector}$, a nonparametric signal detection
algorithm based on phase dispersion minimization, in a search for low
duty-cycle periodic signals in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (${\it
TESS}$) photometry. Our approach, in contrast to commonly used model-based
approaches specifically for flagging transits, eclipsing binaries, or other
similarly periodic events, makes minimal assumptions about the shape of a
periodic signal, with the goal of finding "weird" signals of unexpected or
arbitrary shape. In total, 248,301 ${\it TESS}$ sources from the first-year
Southern sky survey are run through the ${\tt weirddetector}$, of which we
manually inspect the top 21,500 for periodicity. To minimize false-positives,
we here only report on the upper decile in terms of signal score, a sample for
which we obtain 97% recall of ${\it TESS}$ eclipsing binaries and 62% of the
TOIs. In our sample, we find 377 previously unreported periodic signals, for
which we make a first-pass assignment that 26 are ultra-short periods ($<0.3$
d), 313 are likely eclipsing binaries, 28 appear planet-like, and 10 are
miscellaneous signals.
